Biological Test System Testing Base

ABSTRACT

A test system includes a testing base including a plurality of testing base containers, and a plurality of electrodes integrated into the plurality of testing base containers. The test system further includes a plurality of drive-sense circuits coupled to the plurality of electrodes, where, when enabled, the plurality of drive-sense circuits detect changes in electrical characteristics of the plurality of electrodes. The test system further includes a processing module operably coupled to receive, from the drive-sense circuits, changes in the electrical characteristics of the plurality of electrodes, and interpret the changes in the electrical characteristics of the plurality of electrodes as impedance values representative of electrical characteristics of biological material present in the test container. The test system further includes a communication module operably coupled to communicate the electrical characteristics of the biological material.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No.16/730,118 entitled “ORGANIC & INORGANIC TEST SYSTEM”, filed Dec. 30,2019, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entiretyand made part of the present U.S. Utility patent application for allpurposes.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to data communication systems and moreparticularly to sensed data collection and/or communication.

Description of Related Art

Sensors are used in a wide variety of applications ranging from in-homeautomation, to industrial systems, to health care, to transportation,and so on. For example, sensors are placed in bodies, automobiles,airplanes, boats, ships, trucks, motorcycles, cell phones, televisions,touch-screens, industrial plants, appliances, motors, checkout counters,etc. for the variety of applications.

In general, a sensor converts a physical quantity into an electrical oroptical signal. For example, a sensor converts a physical phenomenon,such as a biological condition, a chemical condition, an electriccondition, an electromagnetic condition, a temperature, a magneticcondition, mechanical motion (position, velocity, acceleration, force,pressure), an optical condition, and/or a radioactivity condition, intoan electrical signal.

A sensor includes a transducer, which functions to convert one form ofenergy (e.g., force) into another form of energy (e.g., electricalsignal). There are a variety of transducers to support the variousapplications of sensors. For example, a transducer is capacitor, apiezoelectric transducer, a piezoresistive transducer, a thermaltransducer, a thermal-couple, a photoconductive transducer such as aphotoresistor, a photodiode, and/or phototransistor.

A sensor circuit is coupled to a sensor to provide the sensor with powerand to receive the signal representing the physical phenomenon from thesensor. The sensor circuit includes at least three electricalconnections to the sensor: one for a power supply; another for a commonvoltage reference (e.g., ground); and a third for receiving the signalrepresenting the physical phenomenon. The signal representing thephysical phenomenon will vary from the power supply voltage to ground asthe physical phenomenon changes from one extreme to another (for therange of sensing the physical phenomenon).

The sensor circuits provide the received sensor signals to one or morecomputing devices for processing. A computing device is known tocommunicate data, process data, and/or store data. The computing devicemay be a cellular phone, a laptop, a tablet, a personal computer (PC), awork station, a video game device, a server, and/or a data center thatsupport millions of web searches, stock trades, or on-line purchasesevery hour.

The computing device processes the sensor signals for a variety ofapplications. For example, the computing device processes sensor signalsto determine temperatures of a variety of items in a refrigerated truckduring transit. As another example, the computing device processes thesensor signals to determine a touch on a touch screen. As yet anotherexample, the computing device processes the sensor signals to determinebehavior of biological cells.

In vitro study of the behavior of cells is conventionally done usingpetri dishes, glass slides, or microplates (e.g., flat assay plates withmultiple testing wells) as culture substrates and a form of opticalanalysis such as absorbance, fluorescence intensity, luminescence,time-resolved fluorescence, and/or fluorescence. Chemicals such as drugsand pesticides have different effects on cells such as destruction ofcell membrane, prevention of protein synthesis, irreversible binding toreceptors, enzymatic reactions, etc. Such effects can cause voltagechanges, presence or absence of particular ions or molecules, etc. Dyessensitive to those changes are applied to cells and different cellulareffects are indicated through visual changes (e.g., a level offluorescence). The dyes adversely affect the cells such that the cellsusually die within a few hours. This substantially limit the usefulnessof such testing techniques, especially when testing the cells' responsesto a variety of stimuli.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a test system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a set of testcontainer electrodes coupled to drive-sense circuits (DSCs) inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a diagram of an example of a transmit signal and a receivesignal, in the frequency domain, of a drive-sense circuit (DSC) of theembodiment of FIG. 2A in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2C is a diagram of an example of a frequency pattern used by thedrive-sense circuits (DSCs) of the embodiment of FIG. 2A in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram of an example of a generic circuit of atransmit drive-sense circuit (DSC) and a receive DSC of the embodimentof FIG. 2A in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2E is a schematic diagram of an example of a drive-sense circuit(DSC) transmitting a signal that is being received by the other DSCswithin the embodiment of FIG. 2A in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2F is a schematic block diagram an embodiment of a drive-sensecircuit (DSC) in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2G is a schematic block diagram an example of drive-sense circuits(DSCs) sensing contents of a test container in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2H is a schematic block diagram another example of drive-sensecircuits (DSCs) sensing contents of a test container in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2I is a schematic block diagram another example of drive-sensecircuits (DSCs) sensing contents of a test container in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a set oftest container electrodes coupled to drive-sense circuits (DSCs) inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a diagram of an example of a frequency pattern used by thedrive-sense circuits (DSCs) of the embodiment of FIG. 3A in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 3C is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an example a test containerequivalent circuit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9A is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first set ofimpedances of an impedance map in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9B is a schematic block diagram of an example of a second set ofimpedances of an impedance map in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9C is a schematic block diagram of another example of dataprocessing of a test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a test container impedance mapin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12A is a schematic block diagram of another example a testcontainer equivalent circuit in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an example of comparing testcontainer impedance maps in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13A is a schematic block diagram of another example of comparingtest container impedance maps in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 13B-13E are schematic block diagrams of equivalent circuits of theembodiment of FIG. 12 with respect to the drive-sense circuit (DSC) 1 asthe source of the transmit signal;

FIGS. 13F-131 are schematic block diagrams of equivalent circuits of theembodiment of FIG. 12 with respect to the drive-sense circuit (DSC) 7 asthe source of the transmit signal;

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 15-15C are schematic block diagrams of one or more examples ofcomparing test container impedance maps in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 16 is a logic diagram of an example of a method of data processingof a test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another embodimentof a test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a sensingsurface in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 21A-21B are schematic block diagrams of embodiments of a sensingsurface electrode pattern in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 22A-22B are cross section schematic block diagrams of examples ofcapacitance of a sensing surface in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 23 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of amutual capacitance electric field in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 24 is an example of a cell electric field in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 25 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an embodiment of atest system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example ofcapacitance of a sensing surface in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a sensingsurface electrode pattern in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an examples ofcapacitance of a sensing surface in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another embodimentof a test system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another embodimentof a test system in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 34 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another embodimentof a test system in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an organic andinorganic test system 10 (“test system’) that includes a test containerarray 12 including a plurality of test containers 14. The test containerarray 12 may be comprised of a variety of materials such as polystyrene,polypropylene, glass, flexible plastic tape, and quartz, and may be avariety of shapes and sizes. The test container array 12 is shown as arectangular array of 8×12 cubical test containers 14. The test containerarray may include more or less test containers 14 than shown and thetest containers 14 may be a variety of shapes, depths, and sizes (e.g.,cylindrical, rectangular prism, circular, test tube, petri dish, etc.).Each test container 14 includes a set of test container electrodes 16.The set of test container electrodes 16 includes one or more testcontainer electrodes.

The test container electrodes 16 are electric conductors used to monitorelectrical characteristics of contents within the test container 14. Thetest container electrodes 16 are constructed of electrically conductivematerial (e.g., a conductive metal such as copper, silver, gold, tin, ora non-metallic conductor such as graphite, conductive polymer, etc.).The test container electrodes 16 may be a transparent conductivematerial, such that optical observations of the testing container 14 areunobstructed. For instance, an electrode is constructed from one or moreof: Indium Tin Oxide, Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes, Thin Metal Films,Silver Nanowires Hybrid Materials, Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide (AZO),Amorphous Indium-Zinc Oxide, Gallium-doped Zinc Oxide (GZO), and polypolystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT). The electrodes may be a variety of shapes(e.g., coil, cylindrical, conical, flat, square, circular, domed,spherical, spear shaped, etc.) and may be placed in a variety ofpositions within the test container 14. For example, four test containerelectrodes 16 are shown near the bottom corners of the test container 14and four test container electrodes 16 are below a solution 20 fill lineof the test container 14.

The test system 10 is operable to detect and interpret electricalcharacteristics of an organic mass or an inorganic mass (“mass” 18)present in a test container 14 of the test container array 12. Anorganic mass includes living organisms or portions thereof. For example,the organic mass includes one or more cells (e.g., an individual cell18, multiple cells, tissue, etc.) and/or one or more portions of a cell(e.g., a section of cell membrane). A cell may be from an animal, human,plant, and/or other biological cell and is any type of cell (e.g.,heart, brain, neuron, muscle, skin, lung, etc.). An inorganic massincludes non-living organisms that produce an electrical characteristic(e.g., voltage, current, impedance, resistance, reactance, etc.) with orwithout a stimulus. For example, the inorganic mass is a chemicalcomposition.

A cell 18 a is a complex structural entity consisting of many organellesthat can be electrically characterized as an impedance. Animal cells aresurrounded by a cell membrane 22 composed of a lipid bilayer withproteins embedded in it. The cell membrane 22 acts as both an insulatorand a diffusion barrier to the movement of ions. Internal and externalion concentrations of the cell 18 a are different resulting in a cellmembrane capacitance 24. The cell 18 a has an internal impedance 26(resistance and/or reactance) and a cell membrane impedance that arisesfrom the fact that the cell membrane 22 impedes the movement of chargesacross it. Depending on the nature of testing, the inductance of a cellmay or may not be negligible. The cell membrane capacitance 24 isrelatively unaffected by molecules embedded in it and has a valueestimated at about 0.9-2 μF/cm² (i.e., 90-200 pF/μm²) where the totalcapacitance of the membrane is proportional to its area. There arehundreds of different types of biological cells ranging in size fromabout 5 μm-150 μm in diameter with cell membrane thicknesses rangingfrom 7.5 nm to 10 nm.

A cell 18 a can also be electrically characterized by cell membrane 22potential. Cell membrane 22 potential or cell membrane 22 voltage is thedifference in electric potential between the interior and exterior ofthe cell 18. Typical values of cell membrane 22 potential from theexterior of the cell are measured in ranges from a few nano-volts tomilli-volts. In electrically excitable cells such as neurons and musclecells, membrane potential changes occur when signals are transmittedwithin the cell. Signals are transmitted by the opening and closing ofion channels in the cell membrane 22 which can make the interior voltageof the cell more negative (hyperpolarization) or less negative(depolarization). For non-excitable cells, membrane potential is held ata relatively stable value called resting potential.

In FIG. 1, a mass 18 (e.g., one or more cells 18 a) is shown in asolution 20 in the testing container 14. The solution 20 maintains theintegrity and viability of the mass 18 and negligibly interferes withtesting substances and/or biochemical reactions. For example, thesolution 20 is a saline solution, a preservative, a cell culturesolution, etc., that is electrically conductive. The test system 10 isoperable to detect and interpret the electrical characteristics of thematerials present in the testing container 14. For example, the testsystem 10 is operable to detect and interpret the electricalcharacteristics of the solution 20, the electrical characteristics ofthe mass 18 in the solution 20, and the electrical characteristics ofthe mass 18 in the solution 20 when a testing substance is added.

Based on the differences between the detected electrical characteristicsof the mass 18 (e.g., with and without the testing substance), the testsystem 10 can determine the effect of a testing substance on a cell. Theelectrical characteristics of the mass 18 include one or more ofimpedance, membrane potential, size, shape, density, movement,orientation, cell excitation (e.g., beat amplitude), etc. For example,in a cell becoming non-viable, the cell membrane 22 is unable tomaintain its potential resulting in a decreased capacitance (e.g., as acell dies, its impedance drops). The test system 10 is able to detectthis change in impedance and interpret the effect as cell death.

As another example, the size and shape of a cell responds to chemical,biological, and/or physical stimuli. Based on which test containerelectrodes 16 experience changes in electrical characteristics and atwhat level, the size, shape, and movement of a cell can be mapped. Thetest system 10 is able to detect changes in cell size, shape, andposition (e.g., migration) in response to a testing substance andinterpret the effect as a cell condition (e.g., a shrinking cell mayindicate cell destruction, etc.).

As another example, a testing substance can have an impact the ionconcentration of a cell 18 and thus affect the cell membrane 22 voltage.The test system 10 is able to detect this change in cell membrane 22voltage and interpret the effect as the change in ion concentrationcaused by the testing substance. A more detailed discussion of dataprocessing of the test system 10 is discussed with reference to FIGS.7-16.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a test container array 12 including a pluralityof test containers 14, a plurality of test container electrodes 16, aplurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a test container arrayprocessing module 30, and a communication module 32.

One or more of the test container array processing module 30 and thecommunication module 32 are integrated into the test container array 12or within separate devices. The communication module 32 includes awireless communication unit and/or a wired communication unit. Awireless communication unit includes a wireless local area network(WLAN) communication device, a cellular communication device, aBluetooth device, and/or a ZigBee communication device. A wiredcommunication unit includes a Gigabit LAN connection, a Firewireconnection, and/or a proprietary computer wired connection. Regardlessof the specific implementation of the communication module 32, it isconstructed in accordance with one or more wired communication protocoland/or one or more wireless communication protocols that is/are inaccordance with the one or more of the Open System Interconnection (OSI)model, the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)model, and other communication protocol module.

Each test container 14 includes a set of test container electrodes 16.For example, eight test container electrodes 16 are included in eachtest container 14. The eight test container electrodes 16 are shownstaggered and in different shades of gray to indicate differentpositions within the test container 14. For example, the darker shadedelectrodes are near the bottom the container 14 and the lighter shadedelectrodes are near a fill line of the test container.

Each test container electrode 16 is coupled to a drive-sense circuit(DSC). The DSCs provide electrode signals to the test containerelectrodes 16 and detect changes in electrical characteristics of thetest container electrodes 16 without the use of electric fieldenhancers. As such, the cell(s) are not damaged during testing, since anelectric field enhancer is not used, and the changes to the electricalcharacteristics of the cell(s) are directly attributable to the stimulusadded to the solution (e.g., various medications, various environmentalelements, pollutants, viruses, bacteria, etc.). This provides asignificant benefit for individualized medicine where a patient's cellscan be tested for a variety of conditions and responses. And not just animmediate reaction, but over time since the testing itself does not killthe cells. The DSC functions as described in co-pending patentapplication entitled, “DRIVE SENSE CIRCUIT WITH DRIVE-SENSE LINE”,having a serial number of Ser. No. 16/113,379, and a filing date of Aug.27, 2018.

The DSCs provide the detected changes in electrical characteristics ofthe test container electrodes 16 to the test container array processingmodule 30. The test container array processing module 30 (i.e., theprocessing module) is described in greater detail at the end of thedetailed description of the invention section. The test container arrayprocessing module 30 processes the detected changes in electricalcharacteristics of the test container electrodes 16 from DSCs todetermine the electrical characteristics of cells of the test system 10.For example, the test container array processing module 30 filters thedata (e.g., via a bandpass filter) received from the DSCs and interpretsthe filtered data to determine impedance values representative of theelectrical characteristics of cells. A more detailed discussion of dataprocessing of the test system 10 is discussed with reference to FIGS.7-16.

The test container array processing module 30 communicates theelectrical characteristics of cells to the communication module 32.Communicating the electrical characteristics of cells to thecommunication module 32 may include formatting the data in a particularformat with respect to the communication protocol of the communicationmodule. The communication module 32 is operable to communicate theelectrical characteristics of cells via one or more communicationprotocols.

FIG. 2A is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a set of testcontainer electrodes 16 coupled to drive sense circuits (DSCs 1-8). Forexample, DSC 1 is coupled to a first test container electrode 16, DSC 2is coupled to a second test container electrode 16, and so on. Each DSC1-8 is operable to transmit a transmit signal (TX_signal) at aparticular frequency and receive a set of receive signals (RX signals)from the other DSCs at a set of different frequencies.

Because each of the DSCs 1-8 are operable to transmit and receivesignals at different frequencies, each DSC 1-8 is able to obtaindifferent seven impedance measurements based on seven differentorientations within the test container 14. Different frequencies providedifferent impedance measurements for analysis. For example, theimpedance of a capacitor (i.e., capacitor reactance) is equal to1/(2πfC) where f is the frequency in Hz and C is the capacitance infarads.

FIG. 2B is a diagram of an example of a transmit signal and a receivesignal, in the frequency domain, of drive sense circuits (DSCs 1-8) ofthe embodiment of FIG. 2A. Each DSC 1-8 is operable to transmit atransmit signal (TX_signal) at a particular frequency and receive a setof receive signals (RX signals) at different frequencies from the otherDSCs. For example, a DSC transmits a transmit signal at frequency ft andis operable to receive a set of receive signals from the other sevenDSCs at frequencies f1-f7.

FIG. 2C is a diagram of an example of a frequency pattern used by thedrive-sense circuits (DSCs 1-8) of the embodiment of FIG. 2A. In thisexample, the DSC 1 transmits a transmit signal at a frequency f_1, theDSC 2 transmits a transmit signal at a frequency f_2, the DSC 3transmits a transmit signal at a frequency f_3, the DSC 3 transmits atransmit signal at a frequency f_3, the DSC 4 transmits a transmitsignal at a frequency f_4, the DSC 5 transmits a transmit signal at afrequency f_5, the DSC 6 transmits a transmit signal at a frequency f_6,the DSC 7 transmits a transmit signal at a frequency f_7, and the DSC 8transmits a transmit signal at a frequency f_8. The DSCs may transmitthe transmit signals one at a time, all at the same time, or in acombination thereof.

The DSC 1 receives a set of receive signals from DSCs 2-8 at frequenciesf_2, f_3, f_4, f_5, f_6, f_7, and f_8. The DSC 2 receives a set ofreceive signals from DSCs 1 and 3-8 at frequencies f_1, f_3, f_4, f_5,f_6, f_7, and f_8. The DSC 3 receives a set of receive signals from DSCs1-2 and 4-8 at frequencies f_1, f_2, f_4, f_5, f_6, f_7, and f_8. TheDSC 4 receives a set of receive signals from DSCs 1-3 and 5-8 atfrequencies f_1, f_2, f_3, f_5, f_6, f_7, and f_8. The DSC 5 receives aset of receive signals from DSCs 1-4 and 6-8 at frequencies f_1, f_2,f_3, f_4, f_6, f_7, and f_8. The DSC 6 receives a set of receive signalsfrom DSCs 1-5 and 7-8 at frequencies f_1, f_2, f_3, f_4, f_5, f_7, andf_8. The DSC 7 receives a set of receive signals from DSCs 1-6 and 8 atfrequencies f_1, f_2, f_3, f_4, f_5, f_6, and f_8. The DSC 8 receives aset of receive signals from DSCs 1-7 at frequencies f_1, f_2, f_3, f_4,f_5, f_6, and f_7.

Each of the eight DSCs are operable to receive information from eightdifferent locations within a test container 14 (e.g., from 7 other DSCsand from itself). Thus, 64 different circuits (e.g., a circuit betweenone transmit DSC and one receive DSC) are created for test containeranalysis.

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram of an example of a generic circuit of atransmit drive-sense circuit (DSC) and a receive DSC of the embodimentof FIG. 2A. The DSC that is transmitting a transmit signal is referredto as a transmit drive-sense circuit (DSC) (e.g., DSC_TX) and the DSCthat is receiving a receive signal is referred to as a receivedrive-sense circuit (DSC) (e.g., DSC_RX).

Here, the DSC_TX is transmitting a transmit signal (TX_signal) at afrequency fx. The DSC_RX receives a receive signal (RX_signal) at afrequency fx where the RX_signal at the frequency fx includes arepresentation of the test container solution impedance and informationpertaining to the mass' (e.g., organic or inorganic material) electricalcharacteristics with respect to the orientation relationship between theDSC_TX and the DSC_RX.

FIG. 2E is a schematic diagram of an example of a drive-sense circuit(DSC) transmitting a signal that is being received by the other DSCswithin the embodiment of FIG. 2A. FIG. 2E includes a test container 14including eight test container electrodes 16 where each electrode iscoupled to a drive-sense circuit (DSCs 1-8). The test container 14contains a solution 20 and mass 18 (e.g., one or more cells, etc.).

The DSC 1 is transmitting a transmit signal TX_signal. The DSC 2receives the RX_signal 1-2, where the RX_signal 1-2 is at the samefrequency of TX_signal and includes a representation of the testcontainer solution 20 impedance and the mass' 18 electricalcharacteristics measured with respect to DSC 2 from DSC 1. The DSC 3receives the RX_signal 1-3, where the RX_signal 1-3 is at the samefrequency of TX_signal and includes a representation of the testcontainer solution 20 impedance and the mass' 18 electricalcharacteristics measured with respect to DSC 3 from DSC 1.

The DSC 4 receives the RX_signal 1-4, where the RX_signal 1-4 is at thesame frequency of TX_signal and includes a representation of the testcontainer solution 20 impedance and the mass' 18 electricalcharacteristics measured with respect to DSC 4 from DSC 1. The DSC 5receives the RX_signal 1-5, where the RX_signal 1-5 is at the samefrequency of TX_signal and includes a representation of the testcontainer solution 20 impedance and the mass' 18 electricalcharacteristics measured with respect to DSC 5 from DSC 1. The DSC 6receives the RX_signal 1-6, where the RX_signal 1-6 is at the samefrequency of the TX_signal and includes a representation of the testcontainer solution 20 impedance and the mass' 18 electricalcharacteristics measured with respect to DSC 6 from DSC 1.

The DSC 6 receives the RX_signal 1-7, where the RX_signal 1-7 is at thesame frequency of the TX_signal and includes a representation ofincludes the test container solution 20 impedance and the mass' 18electrical characteristics measured with respect to DSC 7 from DSC 1.The DSC 8 receives the RX_signal 1-8, where the RX_signal 1-8 is at thesame frequency of the TX_signal and includes a representation of thetest container solution 20 impedance and the mass' 18 electricalcharacteristics measured with respect to DSC 8 from DSC 1. As such, theimpedance information obtained in the RX signals 1-2 through 1-8provides an impedance map of the materials present in the test container14 (e.g., the solution 20 and the mass 18).

FIG. 2F is a schematic block diagram an embodiment of a drive-sensecircuit (DSC) 72 that includes a first conversion circuit 102 and asecond conversion circuit 104. The first conversion circuit 102 includescomparator (comp) 74 and an analog to digital converter (ADC) 76. Thesecond conversion circuit 104 includes a digital to analog converter(DAC) 78, a signal source circuit 80, and a driver 82. The analog todigital converter (ADC) 76 may be implemented in a variety of ways. Forexample, the (ADC) 76 is one of: a flash ADC, a successive approximationADC, a ramp-compare ADC, a Wilkinson ADC, an integrating ADC, a deltaencoded ADC, and/or a sigma-delta ADC. The digital to analog converter(DAC) 214 may be a sigma-delta DAC, a pulse width modulator DAC, abinary weighted DAC, a successive approximation DAC, and/or athermometer-coded DAC.

The feedback loop of the drive sense circuit 72 functions to keep theelectrode signal 86 substantially matching the analog reference signal84. As such, the electrode signal 86 will have a similar waveform tothat of the analog reference signal 84. The electrode signal 86 includesa drive signal component 98 and a receive signal component 100. Thedrive signal component 98 corresponds to the transmit signal at f1produced by the DSC and the receive signal component 100 corresponds toa received transmit signal at f2 produced by another DSC circuit.

The first conversion circuit 102 converts the electrode signal 86 into asensed signal 90. The second conversion circuit 104 generates the drivesignal component 98 from the sensed signal 90. As an example, the firstand second conversion circuits 102 and 104 function to keep theelectrode signal 86 substantially constant (e.g., substantially matchingthe reference signal 84) with the first conversion circuit creating thesensed signal 90 to correspond to changes in a receive signal component100 of the electrode signal 86 and the second conversion circuit 104functions generating the drive signal component 98 based on the sensedsignal 90.

In an example, the electrode signal 86 is provided to a test containerelectrode 16 as a regulated current signal. The regulated current (I)signal in combination with the impedance (Z) of the contents of testcontainer (e.g., solution and/or mass) creates a voltage (V), whereV=I*Z. As the impedance (Z) of test container contents changes, theregulated current (I) signal is adjusted to keep the voltage (V)substantially unchanged. To regulate the current signal, the DSC adjuststhe sensed signal 90 and the drive signal component 98 based on thereceive signal component 100, which is indicative of the impedance ofthe test container contents and changes thereof.

More specifically, the comparator 74 compares the electrode signal 86 tothe analog reference signal 84 having the oscillating componentfrequency f1 to produce an analog comparison signal 92. The analogreference signal 84 (e.g., a current signal or a voltage signal)includes a DC component and an oscillating component at a firstfrequency f1. The DC component is a DC voltage in the range of a fewtens of milli-volts to tens of volts or more. The oscillating componentincludes a sinusoidal signal, a square wave signal, a triangular wavesignal, a multiple level signal (e.g., has varying magnitude over timewith respect to the DC component), and/or a polygonal signal (e.g., hasa symmetrical or asymmetrical polygonal shape with respect to the DCcomponent). In another example, the frequency of the oscillatingcomponent may vary so that it can be tuned to the impedance of theelectrode and/or to be off-set in frequency from other electrodesignals.

In an embodiment, a processing module (e.g., one or more of a testcontainer processing module and a test container array processingmodule) provides analog reference signals to the drive sense circuits.For example, each drive sense circuit receives a unique analog referencesignal. As another example, a first group of drive sense circuitsreceive a first analog reference signal and a second group of drivesense circuits receive a second analog reference signal. In yet anotherexample, the drive sense circuits receive the same analog referencesignal. Note that the processing module uses a combination of analogreference signals with control signals to ensure that differentfrequencies are used for oscillating components of the analog referencesignal.

The analog to digital converter 76 converts the analog comparison signal84 into the sensed signal 90. Because the analog reference signal 84includes a DC component and an oscillating component the sensed signal90 will have a substantially matching DC component and oscillatingcomponent at frequency f1.

The second conversion circuit 104 adjusts the regulated current based onthe changes to the sensed signal 90. More specifically, the digital toanalog converter (DAC) 78 converts the sensed signal 90 into an analogfeedback signal 94. The signal source circuit 80 (e.g., a dependentcurrent source, a linear regulator, a DC-DC power supply, etc.)generates a regulated source signal 96 (e.g., a regulated current signalor a regulated voltage signal) based on the analog feedback signal 94.The driver 82 increases power of the regulated source signal 94 toproduce the drive signal component 86. Note that, in an embodiment, thedriver may be omitted.

As another example, the electrode signal 86 is provided to the testcontainer electrode 16 as a regulated voltage signal. The regulatedvoltage (V) signal in combination with the impedance (Z) of the testcontainer contents creates an electrode current (I), where I=V/Z. As theimpedance (Z) of electrode changes, the regulated voltage (V) signal isadjusted to keep the electrode current (I) substantially unchanged. Toregulate the voltage signal, the first conversion circuit 102 adjuststhe sensed signal 90 based on the receive signal component 100, which isindicative of the impedance of the test container contents and changesthereof. The second conversion circuit 104 adjusts the regulated voltagebased on the changes to the sensed signal 90.

Multiplexing of a DSC to a test container 14 is possible since thesampling rate of a cell(s) is very low (e.g., in the range of 100 Hz to0.1 Hz). For example, a cell's electrical characteristics are sampledonce per second. Further, at this sampling rate, the digital filteringof the DSC outputted signals can have a very narrow bandwidth (e.g., 100Hz or less). The combination of low sampling rate, greater than 100 dBmSNR of the DSCs, and very narrow bandwidth allows for very accuratemeasurements of very low voltage (and/or current) changes of the cells(e.g., of a few nano-volts to tens of pico-volts) in this embodiment andin others.

FIG. 2G is a schematic block diagram an example of drive-sense circuits(DSCs 1-2) 72 sensing contents of a test container 14. Each DSC includesa comparator 74, an analog to digital converter (ADC) 76, a digital toanalog converter (DAC) 78, a regulated current source circuit 80, and anadder 85. The processing module 30 (e.g., the test container arrayprocessing module) includes a sensed signal processing unit 33, a DCV_ref control unit 37, and an oscillator control unit 35.

The DC V_ref control 37 generates DC voltage components (e.g., DC_1 andDC_2) of analog reference signals to provide to the DSCs. The DC V_refcontrol 37 generates DC V_ref 1 at a voltage of DC_1 to provide to DSC 1and a DC V_ref 2 at a voltage of DC_2 to provide to DSC 2. DC_1 and DC_2are voltages in the range of a few tens of milli-volts to tens of voltsor more. The DC V_ref control 37 generates DC_1 and DC_2 to be differentsuch that a voltage potential exists between the DSCs 1-2 72.

The oscillator control 35 generates the AC oscillating components ofanalog reference signals provided to the DSCs. The oscillator control 35generates an oscillator 1 at frequency fx_1 to provide to DSC 1 and anoscillator 2 at a frequency fx-2 to provide to DSC 2. The oscillatingcomponents include a sinusoidal signal, a square wave signal, atriangular wave signal, a multiple level signal (e.g., has varyingmagnitude over time with respect to the DC component), and/or apolygonal signal (e.g., has a symmetrical or asymmetrical polygonalshape with respect to the DC component).

The adders 85 of the DSCs 1-2 72 combine the DC components with theoscillating components to produce analog reference signals for input tothe comparators 74. The DSCs function to keep the electrode signal 86substantially constant (e.g., substantially matching the referencesignal).

For example, an electrode signal 86 is provided to a test containerelectrode as a regulated current signal. The regulated current (I)signal in combination with the impedance (Z) of the contents of testcontainer (e.g., solution and/or biological material) creates a voltage(V), where V=I*Z. As the impedance (Z) of test container contentschanges, the regulated current (I) signal is adjusted to keep thevoltage (V) substantially unchanged. To regulate the current signal,each DSC 1-2 72 adjusts the sensed signals 90-1 and 90-2 based on thereceive signal component of the electrode signal 86, which is indicativeof the impedance of the test container contents and changes thereof.

The DSCs 72 provide the sensed signals 90-1 and 90-2 to the sensedsignal processing unit 33 of the processing module 30. The processingmodule 30 generates an impedance map of the test container based on thesensed signals.

FIG. 2H is a schematic block diagram another example of drive-sensecircuits (DSCs 1-2) sensing contents of a test container. The processingmodule 30 provides the DSC 1 a DC voltage signal component DC_1=0.5 Vand an AC oscillating signal component at a frequency of 100 KHz. Theprocessing module 30 provides the DSC 2 a DC voltage component DC_2=0.4V such that a voltage potential of 0.1 V exists between DSC 1 and DSC 2.

The DSC 1 transmits a transmit signal (TX_signal) at 100 KHz through thetest container. The DSC 2 receives a receive signal (RX_signal) at thesame frequency as the TX_signal, 100 KHz. To regulate the currentsignal, the DSC 2 adjusts the sensed signal 90-2 based on the RX_signalat 100 KHz, which is indicative of the impedance of the test containercontents and changes thereof.

FIG. 2I is a schematic block diagram another example of drive-sensecircuits (DSCs 1-2) sensing contents of a test container. The processingmodule 30 provides the DSC 2 a DC voltage component DC_2=0.4 V and an ACoscillating signal component at a frequency of 125 KHz. The processingmodule 30 provides the DSC 1 a DC voltage component DC_1=0.5 V such thata voltage potential of 0.1 V exists between DSC 2 and DSC 1.

The DSC 2 transmits a transmit signal (TX_signal) at 125 KHz through thetest container. The DSC 2 receives the receive signal (RX_signal) at thesame frequency as the TX_signal, 125 KHz. To regulate the currentsignal, the DSC 1 adjusts the sensed signal 90-1 based on the RX_signalat 125 KHz, which is indicative of the impedance of the test containercontents and changes thereof.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a test container array 12 including a pluralityof test containers 14, a plurality of test container electrodes 16, aplurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a plurality of multiplexors(muxes), a test container array processing module 30, and acommunication module 32. FIG. 3 operates similarly to FIG. 2 except thatthe test container electrodes of a test container 14 are coupled to apair of drive-sense circuits (DSC) via multiple inputs of a multiplexor.The test container processing module 30 provides control signals (e.g.,mux signals 34) to the multiplexors.

FIG. 3A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a set oftest container electrodes 16 coupled to drive-sense circuits (DSCs). Theset of test container electrodes 16 are coupled to a pair of DSCs 1-2via multiple inputs of two multiplexors. The DSC 1 is coupled to testcontainer electrodes 1-4 via a first multiplexor and the DSC 2 iscoupled to test container electrodes 5-8 via a second multiplexor.

The DSC 1 transmits a transmit signal at a frequency f1 to theelectrodes 1-4 and the DSC 2 transmits a transmit signal at a frequencyf2 to the electrodes 5-8. Therefore, the DSC 1 receives the receivesignals from the electrodes 1-4 at frequency f2 and the DSC 2 thereceive signals from the electrodes 5-8 at frequency f1.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of an example of a frequency pattern used by thedrive-sense circuits (DSCs) of the embodiment of FIG. 3A. The first twocolumns show 32 different circuits created between DSC 1 and DSC 2. Forexample, when DSC 1 transmits at a first frequency via electrode 1, DSC2 transmits at a fifth frequency via electrode 5. Therefore, the DSC 1receives a receive signal at the fifth frequency via electrode 1 and theDSC 5 receives a receive signal at the first frequency via electrode 5.

The second two columns shows 32 additional circuits created between DSC1 and DSC 2. For example, when DSC 1 transmits at a third frequency viaelectrode 3, DSC 2 transmits at a fifth frequency via electrode 5.Therefore, the DSC 1 receives a receive signal at the fifth frequencyvia electrode 3 and the DSC 2 receives a receive signal at the thirdfrequency via electrode 5. The two sets of 32 circuits are run at thesame time.

FIG. 3C is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a test container array 12 including a pluralityof test containers 14, a plurality of test container electrodes 16, aplurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a plurality of multiplexors(muxes), a test container array processing module 30, and acommunication module 32. FIG. 3C operates similarly to FIG. 3 exceptthat the test container electrodes of two test containers 14 are coupledto a pair of drive-sense circuits (DSC) via multiple inputs of amultiplexor.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a test container array 12 including a pluralityof test containers 14, a plurality of test container electrodes 16, aplurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a plurality of multiplexors(muxes), a test container array processing module 30, and acommunication module 32. FIG. 4 operates similarly to FIG. 3 except thateach test container 14 includes a test container (TC) processing module36.

The pair of DSCs coupled to a test container, provides the TC processingmodule 36 the detected changes in electrical characteristics of the testcontainer electrodes 16 in the form of receive signals. The testcontainer processing modules 36 process the received signalsrepresentative of the detected changes in electrical characteristics toproduce digital data that quantifies the electrical characteristics ofcells (and/or changes thereto) of the test system 10. For example, thetest container processing modules 36 filter the data (e.g., via abandpass filter) received from the DSCs. Digital processing of receivedsignals of drive sense circuits (DSCs) is further described in pendingpatent application entitled, “Receive Analog To Digital Circuit Of A LowVoltage Drive Circuit Data Communication System”, having a filing dateof Feb. 4, 2019, and an application number of Ser. No. 16/266,953.

The test container processing modules 36 communicate the processed(e.g., filtered) data representing the electrical characteristics,and/or changes thereto, of cells to the test container array processingmodule 30. The test container array processing module 30 interprets thefiltered data as an impedance value representative of electricalcharacteristics of a cell, formats the impedance values forcommunication, and communicates the formatted data representingelectrical characteristics of cells to the communication module 32 forcommunication.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of the testsystem 10 that includes a computing device 38 and a test container array12 including a plurality of test containers 14, a plurality of testcontainer electrodes 16, a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), aplurality of multiplexors (muxes), a plurality of test container (TC)processing modules 36, and a communication module 32. Computing device38 may be a portable computing device and/or a fixed computing device. Aportable computing device may be a social networking device, a gamingdevice, a cell phone, a smart phone, a digital assistant, a digitalmusic player, a digital video player, a laptop computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet, a video game controller, and/or any other portabledevice that includes a computing core (e.g., having a processingmodule).

A fixed computing device may be a computer (PC), an interactive whiteboard, an interactive table top, an interactive desktop, an interactivedisplay, a computer server, a cable set-top box, vending machine, anAutomated Teller Machine (ATM), an automobile, a satellite receiver, atelevision set, a printer, a fax machine, home entertainment equipment,a video game console, and/or any type of home or office computingequipment.

FIG. 5 operates similarly to FIG. 4 except that the test container array12 does not include the test container array processing module 30. Thepair of DSCs coupled to a test container provides the TC processingmodule 36 of the test container 14 the detected changes in electricalcharacteristics of the test container electrodes 16 in the form ofreceived signals. The test container processing module 36 processes thedetected changes in electrical characteristics of the test containerelectrodes 16 from DSC to determine the electrical characteristics ofcell and/or changes thereto. For example, the test container processingmodules 36 filter the data (e.g., via a bandpass filter) received fromthe DSCs to produce filtered data. The test container processing modules36 also format the data and communicates the filtered, formatted datarepresenting electrical characteristics of cells to the communicationmodule 32.

The communication module 32 communicates the filtered, formatted datarepresenting electrical characteristics, and/or changes thereto, ofcells to the computing device 38. As an example, the computing device 38interprets the filtered data from the communication module 32 asimpedance values representative of electrical characteristics of a cell.The computing device 38 communicates the multiplexor signals 34 to theDSCS via the communication module 32 and the TC processing modules 36.Alternatively, the test container processing modules 36 provide themultiplexor signals 34 to its respective multiplexors.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a test container array 12 including a pluralityof test containers 14, a plurality of test container electrodes 16, aplurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a plurality of multiplexors(muxes), a test container array processing module 30, a communicationmodule 32, a core control module 40, one or more additional processingmodules 42, one or more main memories 44, cache memory 46, a videographics processing module 48, a display 50, an Input-Output (I/O)peripheral control module 52, one or more input interface modules, oneor more output interface modules, one or more network interface modules60, and one or more memory interface modules 62.

The additional processing module 42 is described in greater detail atthe end of the detailed description of the invention section and, in analternative embodiment, has a direct connection to the main memory 44.In an alternate embodiment, the core control module 40 and the I/Oand/or peripheral control module 52 are one module, such as a chipset, aquick path interconnect (QPI), and/or an ultra-path interconnect (UPI).

Each of the main memories 44 includes one or more Random Access Memory(RAM) integrated circuits, or chips. For example, a main memory 44includes four DDR4 (4^(th) generation of double data rate) RAM chips,each running at a rate of 2,400 MHz. In general, the main memory 44stores data and operational instructions most relevant for theprocessing module 42. For example, the core control module 40coordinates the transfer of data and/or operational instructions fromthe main memory 44 and the memory 64-66. The data and/or operationalinstructions retrieve from memory 64-66 are the data and/or operationalinstructions requested by the processing module or will most likely beneeded by the processing module. When the processing module is done withthe data and/or operational instructions in main memory, the corecontrol module 40 coordinates sending updated data to the memory 64-66for storage.

The memory 64-66 includes one or more hard drives, one or more solidstate memory chips, and/or one or more other large capacity storagedevices that, in comparison to cache memory and main memory devices,is/are relatively inexpensive with respect to cost per amount of datastored. The memory 64-66 is coupled to the core control module 40 viathe I/O and/or peripheral control module 52 and via one or more memoryinterface modules 62. In an embodiment, the I/O and/or peripheralcontrol module 52 includes one or more Peripheral Component Interface(PCI) buses to which peripheral components connect to the core controlmodule 40. A memory interface module 62 includes a software driver and ahardware connector for coupling a memory device to the I/O and/orperipheral control module 52. For example, a memory interface 62 is inaccordance with a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) port.

The core control module 40 coordinates data communications between theprocessing module(s) 42 and a network, or networks, via the I/O and/orperipheral control module 52, the network interface module(s) 60, and anetwork card 68 or 70. A network card 68 or 70 includes a wirelesscommunication unit or a wired communication unit. A wirelesscommunication unit includes a wireless local area network (WLAN)communication device, a cellular communication device, a Bluetoothdevice, and/or a ZigBee communication device. A wired communication unitincludes a Gigabit LAN connection, a Firewire connection, and/or aproprietary computer wired connection. A network interface module 60includes a software driver and a hardware connector for coupling thenetwork card to the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. Forexample, the network interface module 60 is in accordance with one ormore versions of IEEE 802.11, cellular telephone protocols, 10/100/1000Gigabit LAN protocols, etc.

The core control module 40 coordinates data communications between theprocessing module(s) 42 and input device(s) via the input interfacemodule(s) and the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. An inputdevice includes a keypad, a keyboard, control switches, a touchpad, amicrophone, a camera, etc. An input interface module includes a softwaredriver and a hardware connector for coupling an input device to the I/Oand/or peripheral control module 52. In an embodiment, an inputinterface module is in accordance with one or more Universal Serial Bus(USB) protocols.

The core control module 40 coordinates data communications between theprocessing module(s) 42 and output device(s) via the output interfacemodule(s) and the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. An outputdevice includes a speaker, etc. An output interface module includes asoftware driver and a hardware connector for coupling an output deviceto the I/O and/or peripheral control module 52. In an embodiment, anoutput interface module is in accordance with one or more audio codecprotocols.

The processing module 42 communicates directly with a video graphicsprocessing module 48 to display data on the display 50. The display 50includes an LED (light emitting diode) display, an LCD (liquid crystaldisplay), and/or other type of display technology. The display has aresolution, an aspect ratio, and other features that affect the qualityof the display. The video graphics processing module 48 receives datafrom the processing module 42, processes the data to produce rendereddata in accordance with the characteristics of the display, and providesthe rendered data to the display 50.

The DSCs provide the detected changes in electrical characteristics ofthe test container electrodes 16 to the test container array processingmodule 30 which may be a separate processing module or integrated intothe processing module 42. The test container array processing module 30processes the detected changes in electrical characteristics of the testcontainer electrodes 16 from DSCs to determine the electricalcharacteristics of cells of the test system 10. For example, the testcontainer array processing module 30 filters the data (e.g., via abandpass filter) received from the DSCs to produce impedance valuesrepresentative of the electrical characteristics of cells.

The test container array processing module 30 communicates theelectrical characteristics of cells to the communication module 32.Communicating the electrical characteristics of cells to thecommunication module 32 may include formatting the data in a particularformat with respect to the communication protocol of the communicationmodule. The communication module 32 is operable to communicate theelectrical characteristics of cells via the I/O interface to the corecontrol module 40 where the core control module 40 can provide the datarepresenting the electrical characteristics of cell to the videographics processing module 48 such that the data can be displayed ondisplay 50.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system that includes a test container 14 of the test containerarray and a set of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) 1-8. The test container14 includes a set of test container (TC) electrodes 1-8. The set of TCelectrodes 1-8 are shown staggered and in different colors to representtheir different positions within the test container 14. Each TCelectrode of the TC electrodes 1-8 is coupled to a drive-sense circuit(DSC). For example, TC electrode 1 is coupled to DSC 1.

As discussed above, the set of drive-sense circuits 1-8 are operable todetect changes in electrical characteristics of the contents of the testcontainer. The set of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) 1-8 are coupled to oneor more of a test container processing module and a test container arrayprocessing module operable to receive, from the set of drive-sensecircuits 1-8, a set of changes in electrical characteristics of the testcontainer contents (e.g., the sensed signals 1-8) and interpret the setof changes in electrical characteristics as a set of impedance valuesrepresentative of electrical characteristics of biological material(e.g., a cell) present in the test container 14.

To begin data processing, the DSCs 1-8 are enabled to generate sensedsignals 1-8 based on received signals from one or more of the other DSCswhen only a solution 20 is present in the test container 14 (i.e., thetest container does not yet include a biological material).

FIG. 8 illustrates the test container equivalent circuit 106, whichincludes a source 108 and an impedance 110. The impedance 110 in thisexample is representative of the impedance of the solution 20 (e.g.,saline solution) present in the test container 14. The example of dataprocessing continues in the following FIGS. 9-15.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system that includes a processing module 112 (e.g., a testcontainer processing module and/or the test container array processingmodule), test container (TC) electrodes 1-8 of a test container 14 ofthe test container array, and a set of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) 1-8.FIG. 9 continues the example of FIG. 8 where the sensed signals 1-8 aresent to a processing module (e.g., a test container processing moduleand/or the test container array processing module) where they areprocessed to determine a set of impedance values (e.g., an impedancemap) representative of the electrical characteristics of the testcontainer 14 with solution 20. The processing module 112 processes theimpedance map to produce test container content electricalcharacteristic data with respect to the positioning of the electrodesand transmit frequencies.

The drive sense circuits 1-8 provide electrode signals 1-8 to theirrespective test container electrodes 1-8 and produce respective sensedsignals 1-8. In an embodiment, the processing module 112 provides analogreference signals 1-8 to the drive sense circuits 1-8. For example, eachdrive sense circuit 1-8 receives a unique analog reference signal.

The sensed signal 1 includes frequency components at f₂-f₈ thatcorresponds to the transmit signals of DSC 2-8. As such, sensed signal 1includes 7 different frequencies, which will produce 7 differentimpedance values. For example, impedance 1 is the impedance between DSC1's electrode and DSC 2's electrode at frequency f2; impedance 2 is theimpedance between DSC 1's electrode and DSC 3's electrode at frequencyf3; and so on. The sensed signal 2 includes frequency components at f1,and f₃-f₈ that corresponds to transmit signals of DSC 1, and DSCs 3-8.As such, sensed signal 7 includes 7 different frequencies, which willproduce 7 different impedance values. For example, impedance 1 is theimpedance between DSC 2's electrode and DSC 1's electrode at frequencyf1; impedance 2 is the impedance between DSC 2's electrode and DSC 3'selectrode at frequency f3; and so on.

The processing module 112 includes a bandpass filter 114 and a frequencyinterpreter 116. The bandpass filter circuit 114 passes (i.e.,substantially unattenuated) signals in a bandpass region (e.g., tens ofHertz to hundreds of thousands of Hertz, or more) centered aboutfrequencies f₁-f₈ and attenuates signals outside of the bandpassregions. The bandpass filter circuit 114 includes one or more digitalfilters, where a digital filter is implemented as a cascaded integratedcomb (CIC) filter, a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, an infiniteimpulse response (IIR) filter, a Butterworth filter, a Chebyshev filter,an elliptic filter, etc.

In this example, the processing module 112 filters the sensed signals1-8 at different times in order to use the bandpass filter circuit 114in a round robin fashion on the sensed signals 1-8. The processingmodule 112 may receive sensed signals 1-8 at the same or differenttimes. For example, the processing module 112 receives sensed signals1-8 from DSCs 1-8 and the bandpass filter 114 filters sensed signal 1 attime T1 to produce a filtered signal 1, filters sensed signal 2 at timeT2 to produce a filtered signal 2, filters sensed signal 3 at time T3 toproduce a filtered signal 3, filters sensed signal 4 at time T4 toproduce a filtered signal 4, filters sensed signal 5 at time T5 toproduce a filtered signal 5, filters sensed signal 6 at time T6 toproduce a filtered signal 6, filters sensed signal 7 at time T7 toproduce a filtered signal 7, and filters sensed signal 8 at time T8 toproduce a filtered signal 8.

The frequency interpreter 116 receives the filtered signal 1 at T1 andinterprets it to render a first set of impedance values. As an example,the frequency interpreter 116 is a processing module, or portionthereof, that executes a function to convert the signal components offiltered signal 1 into the first set of impedance values, which areactual impedance values, relative impedance values (e.g., in a range),and/or difference impedance values (e.g., is the difference between adefault impedance value and a sensed impedance value). As anotherexample, the frequency interpreter 116 utilizes a look up table wherethe signal components of the filtered signal 1 are indexes for thetable.

The frequency interpreter 116 produces eight sets of impedances (e.g.,one for each DSC) and further processes them to produce an impedance mapof the test container per sampling interval. As an alternative to timemultiplexing the use of eight digital filters within the bandpass filtercircuit 114, the bandpass filter circuit 114 includes 56 digitalfilters; seven for each sensed signal.

FIG. 9A is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first set ofimpedances of an impedance map. The first set of impedances correspondsto a sensed signal 1 produced by drive sense circuit (DSC) 1. DSCs 1-8transmit signals at frequencies f₁-f₈. The sensed signal 1 includesfrequency components at f₂-f₈ corresponding to the transmit signals ofDSC 2-8. Sensed signal 1 includes 7 different frequencies that produce 7different impedance values.

For example, impedance 1_2 is the impedance between DSC 1's electrodeand DSC 2's electrode at frequency f2; impedance 1_3 is the impedancebetween DSC 1's electrode and DSC 3's electrode at frequency f3;impedance 1_4 is the impedance between DSC 1's electrode and DSC 4'selectrode at frequency f4; impedance 1_5 is the impedance between DSC1's electrode and DSC 5's electrode at frequency f5; impedance 1_6 isthe impedance between DSC 1's electrode and DSC 6's electrode atfrequency f6; impedance 1_7 is the impedance between DSC 1's electrodeand DSC 7's electrode at frequency f7; and impedance 1_8 is theimpedance between DSC 1's electrode and DSC 8's electrode at frequencyf8.

FIG. 9B is a schematic block diagram of an example of a second set ofimpedances of an impedance map. The second set of impedances correspondsto a sensed signal 2 produced by drive sense circuit (DSC) 2. DSCs 1-8transmit signals at frequencies f₁-f₈. The sensed signal 2 includesfrequency components at f₁ and f₃-f₈ corresponding to the transmitsignals of DSC 1 and DSCs 3-8. Sensed signal 2 includes 7 differentfrequencies that produce 7 different impedance values.

For example, impedance 2_1 is the impedance between DSC 2's electrodeand DSC 1's electrode at frequency f1; impedance 2_3 is the impedancebetween DSC 2's electrode and DSC 3's electrode at frequency f3;impedance 2_4 is the impedance between DSC 2's electrode and DSC 4'selectrode at frequency f4; impedance 2_5 is the impedance between DSC2's electrode and DSC 5's electrode at frequency f5; impedance 2_6 isthe impedance between DSC 2's electrode and DSC 6's electrode atfrequency f6; impedance 2_7 is the impedance between DSC 2's electrodeand DSC 7's electrode at frequency f7; and impedance 2_8 is theimpedance between DSC 2's electrode and DSC 8's electrode at frequencyf8.

FIG. 9C is a schematic block diagram of another example of dataprocessing of a test system that includes a processing module 112 (e.g.,a test container processing module and/or the test container arrayprocessing module), a set of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) 1-8, and amultiplexor. The processing module 112 includes a bandpass filtercircuit 114 and a frequency interpreter 116.

FIG. 9C operates similarly to FIG. 9 except that the multiplexor selectsa reference signal input for each DSC such that the DSCs transmitsignals one at a time using the same frequency. For example, a referencesignal at a frequency f1 is selected as the transmit signal for eachDSC. The sensed signals 1-8 each include a frequency components at f1corresponding to the transmit signal produced by the DSC that iscurrently transmitting. A set of 7 impedances are generated per cycle ofmultiplexing in this example.

The bandpass filter circuit 114 passes (i.e., substantiallyunattenuated) signals in a bandpass region centered about frequency f1and attenuates signals outside of the bandpass regions. In an example,when DSC 1 is transmitting, the sensed signals 2-8 includes frequencycomponents at f1 that corresponds to the transmit signal of DSC 1. Thebandpass filter circuit 114 filters the set of sensed signals 2-8 at thefrequency f1 to produce a set of filtered signals 2-8 at the frequencyf₁. The frequency interpreter 116 receives the filtered signals 2-8 andinterprets it to render a first set of impedance values. As such, 7different impedance values are provided at the same frequency.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system that includes a processing module 112 (e.g., a testcontainer processing module and/or the test container array processingmodule), test container (TC) electrodes 1-8 of a test container 14 ofthe test container array, and a set of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) 1-8.

FIG. 10 operates similarly to FIG. 9 except that the processing module112 includes a plurality of narrow bandpass filters 1-8 (BPF ckts 1-8)and a plurality of frequency interpreters 1-8. In this embodiment, theprocessing module 112 receives sensed signals 1-8 from the DSCs 1-8 andprocesses the sensed signals 1-8 to produce eight sets of impedances(one from each DSC).

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a test containerimpedance map 118. As discussed in FIGS. 8-10, a processing module of atest system (e.g., one or more of a test container processing module anda test container array processing module) is operable to convert asensed signal from a drive-sense circuit into a set of impedances values(e.g., one or more impedance values). The processing module is furtheroperable to generate and store a test container impedance map 118 thatassociates the sets of impedance values to their respective electrodesand physical placements within the testing container 14.

As shown, each set of impedances includes 7 impedances: a DSC receivesthe transmissions from the other 7 DSCs to produce a set of impedances.Note that the shaded impedances have a corresponding non-shadedimpedance. For example, impedance 7-1 has a corresponding impedance 1-7.These impedance will be different since their reference signals aredifferent (e.g., frequencies f1 and f7). While the impedances andfrequencies are different, the resistive and reactive components betweenthe first and seventh electrodes should be the same. Thus, from one ormore of the two equations, the resistive and reactive components betweenthe first and seventh electrodes can be readily determined. For example,the resistance, capacitance, and/or inductance between the first andseventh electrodes can be readily determined (e.g., V=I*R, impedance ofa capacitor is ½πfC, and the impedance of an inductor is 2πfL).

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system that includes a test container 14 of the test containerarray and a set of drive-sense circuits (DSCs) 1-8. This example issimilar to the example of FIG. 8, with a difference being that a mass isadded to the test container 14. For example, the mass 18 is one or morecells and/or one or more portions of a cell. Here, one or more cells 18are added to the test container 14. As in FIG. 8, the DSCs 1-8 areenabled to generate sensed signals 1 through 8. In alternativeembodiment, the cells are grown in the test container 14 filled with thesolution. Note that it can take months to grow a group of cells to beready for testing.

FIG. 12A is a schematic block diagram of the test container equivalentcircuit 106, which includes a source 108 (e.g., a transmitting DSC), amass 18 source due to the voltage potential of the mass and an impedance110. The impedance 110 in this example is representative of theimpedance of a first portion of the solution 20 (e.g., saline solution)and the impedance of the mass 18 (e.g., cell membrane capacitance andresistance) in parallel with a second portion of the solution added tothe test container 14.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an example of a first set ofimpedances of an impedance map 118-1 for the example of FIG. 12. Thefirst set of impedances is derived when the drive-sense circuit (DSC) 1transmits a signal at f1 to the other DSCs (e.g., 2-7). As previouslydiscussed, each of DSC 2-7 generates a sensed signal based on receivingthe transmitted signal at f1, where an impedance is generated therefrom.For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 7 is converted into animpedance 1_7_C, where the I indicates that the source of the signal isDSC 1, the 7 indicates that DSC 7 is recipient of the signal, and the Cindicates that a mass 18 is present. Similarly, the sensed signalproduced by DSC 4 is converted into impedance 1_4_C. In this example,the voltage produced by the mass (V_mass) is positively coupled inseries with the impedance of the solution and the impedance of the massper the equivalent circuit of FIG. 12A.

FIG. 13A is a schematic block diagram of an example of a seventh set ofimpedances of an impedance map 118-1 for the example of FIG. 12. Theseventh set of impedances is derived when the DSC 7 transmits a signalat f7 (or at f1 depending on time and frequency multiplexing patternsused for transmitting signals) to the other DSCs (e.g., 1-6, and 8). Aspreviously discussed, each of DSC 1-6, and 8 generates a sensed signalbased on receiving the transmitted signal at f7, where an impedance isgenerated therefrom. For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 1 isconverted into an impedance 7_1_C, where the 7 indicates that the sourceof the signal is DSC 7, the I indicates that DSC 1 is the recipient ofthe signal, and the C indicates that a mass is present. Similarly, thesensed signal produced by DSC 6 is converted into impedance 7_6_C. Inthis example, the voltage produced by the mass (V_mass) is negativelycoupled in series with the impedance of the solution and the impedanceof the mass.

The processing module of system 10 is operable to compare the impedancemap 118 (solution only) with the impedance map 118-1 (solution and mass)to determine the electrical characteristics of the mass 18. Theelectrical characteristics of the mass 18 include impedance, membranepotential (if one or more cells), size, shape, density, movement,orientation, cell excitation (e.g., beat amplitude), etc.

FIGS. 13B-13E are schematic block diagrams of equivalent circuits of theembodiment of FIG. 12 with respect to the drive-sense circuit (DSC) 1 asthe source of the transmit signal. FIG. 13B includes DSC 1 transmittinga TX signal at a frequency f1. The DSC 7 receives an RX signal at f1 andgenerates a sensed signal based on receiving the transmitted signal atf1, where an impedance is generated therefrom. For example, the sensedsignal produced by DSC 7 is converted into an impedance 1_7_C, where theI indicates that the source of the signal is DSC 1, the 7 indicates thatDSC 7 is the recipient of the signal, and the C indicates that a mass ispresent.

FIG. 13C includes DSC 1 transmitting a TX signal at a frequency f1. TheDSC 8 receives an RX signal at f1 and generates a sensed signal based onreceiving the transmitted signal at f1, where an impedance is generatedtherefrom. For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 8 is convertedinto an impedance 1_8_C, where the I indicates that the source of thesignal is DSC 1, the 8 indicates that DSC 7 is the recipient of thesignal, and the C indicates that a mass is present.

FIG. 13D includes DSC 1 transmitting a TX signal at a frequency f1. TheDSC 3 receives an RX signal at f1 and generates a sensed signal based onreceiving the transmitted signal at f1, where an impedance is generatedtherefrom. For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 3 is convertedinto an impedance 1_3_C, where the I indicates that the source of thesignal is DSC 1, the 3 indicates that DSC 3 is the recipient of thesignal, and the C indicates that a mass is present.

FIG. 13E includes DSC 1 transmitting a TX signal at a frequency f1. TheDSC 4 receives an RX signal at f1 and generates a sensed signal based onreceiving the transmitted signal at f1, where an impedance is generatedtherefrom. For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 4 is convertedinto an impedance 1_4_C, where the I indicates that the source of thesignal is DSC 1, the 4 indicates that DSC 4 is the recipient of thesignal, and the C indicates that a mass is present.

FIGS. 13F-13 i are schematic block diagrams of equivalent circuits ofthe embodiment of FIG. 12 with respect to the drive-sense circuit (DSC)7 as the source of the transmit signal. FIG. 13F includes DSC 7transmitting a TX signal at a frequency f7. The DSC 1 receives an RXsignal at f7 and generates a sensed signal based on receiving thetransmitted signal at f7, where an impedance is generated therefrom. Forexample, the sensed signal produced by DSC 1 is converted into animpedance 7_1_C, where the 7 indicates that the source of the signal isDSC 7, the I indicates that DSC 1 is the recipient of the signal, andthe C indicates that a mass is present.

FIG. 13G includes DSC 7 transmitting a TX signal at a frequency f7. TheDSC 2 receives an RX signal at f7 and generates a sensed signal based onreceiving the transmitted signal at f7, where an impedance is generatedtherefrom. For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 2 is convertedinto an impedance 7_2_C, where the 7 indicates that the source of thesignal is DSC 7, the 2 indicates that DSC 2 is the recipient of thesignal, and the C indicates that a mass is present.

FIG. 13H includes DSC 7 transmitting a TX signal at a frequency f7. TheDSC 6 receives an RX signal at f7 and generates a sensed signal based onreceiving the transmitted signal at f7, where an impedance is generatedtherefrom. For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 6 is convertedinto an impedance 7_6_C, where the 7 indicates that the source of thesignal is DSC 7, the 6 indicates that DSC 6 is the recipient of thesignal, and the C indicates that a mass is present.

FIG. 13i includes DSC 7 transmitting a TX signal at a frequency f7. TheDSC 5 receives an RX signal at f7 and generates a sensed signal based onreceiving the transmitted signal at f7, where an impedance is generatedtherefrom. For example, the sensed signal produced by DSC 5 is convertedinto an impedance 7_5_C, where the 7 indicates that the source of thesignal is DSC 7, the 5 indicates that DSC 5 is the recipient of thesignal, and the C indicates that a mass is present.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an example of data processing ofa test system that is similar to the example of FIG. 12 with theaddition of a testing substance 122 included in the test container 14.The testing substance 122 may be one or more of an FDA approvedprescription drug, an over the counter drug, an allergen, anot-yet-approved FDA drug, a food, a chemical, a pesticide, acombination of one or more drugs. In practice, there is no limit on theparticular nature of the testing substance 122.

The purpose of adding the testing substance to the test container thatalready contains a solution 20 and a mass 18 (e.g., a biologicalmaterial such as cells) is to determine how the mass reacts to thetesting substance. With the use of testing system disclosed herein, dyesand electric field enhancers are not required, which kills thebiological material. Because the testing system 10 is capable ofmeasuring very small voltages (e.g., from a few nano-volts to tens ofpico-volts) and/or very small currents (e.g., a few nano-amps to tens ofpico-amps), a plethora of testing options are now available. Such atesting system 10 enables significant advancements in individualizedmedicine.

For example, a variety of a person's cells (e.g., skin, heart, lung,kidney, etc.) can be exposed to a wide variety of testing substances todetermine, not only how the cell immediately reacts, but how does itreact over time to the testing substances. This last aspect was notpreviously obtaining because the dyes and the electric field enhancerkilled the cells.

FIGS. 15-15C are schematic block diagrams of one or more examples ofcomparing test container impedance maps. FIG. 15 shows the testcontainer including the solution and the mass 18, which will have animpedance map 118-1 as discussed with reference to FIGS. 13-131.

When the testing substance 122 is added to the test container 14,another test container impedance map is generated using similar methodsas previously discussed. With reference to FIG. 15A, the testingsubstance 122 caused the mass to shrink and its voltage to decrease.This will cause an impedance change, which is reflected in the impedancemap for this test. The processing module of the testing system comparesthe impedance map of the mass without a testing substance to theimpedance map of the mass with the testing substance to determine thechanges to the mass. As time passes, multiple time-stamped impedancemaps are generated for the mass exposed to the testing substance todetermine how the mass reacts to the testing substance over time.

FIG. 15B is a diagram of an example of the mass growing and its voltageincreasing as a result of the testing substance. This too causes animpedance change, which is reflected in the impedance map for this test.The processing module of the testing system compares the impedance mapof the mass without a testing substance to the impedance map of the masswith the testing substance to determine the changes to the mass.

FIG. 15C is a diagram of an example of the mass changing in more or moremanners. For example, the mass changes its shape. As another example,the orientation of the mass changes. As yet another example, the mass'voltage and/or impedance changes. Each of the changes causes animpedance change, which is reflected in the impedance map for this test.The processing module of the testing system compares the impedance mapof the mass without a testing substance to the impedance map of the masswith the testing substance to determine the changes to the mass.

With the changes to the mass (e.g., cells) readily detectable by thetesting system, medical professionals can interpret the changes todetermine if the testing substance is beneficial to an individual and/orharmful to the individual. In addition, the level of benefit and/or harmcan be determined. In another use case, a cell may be exposed to acombination of testing substances to determine the cell's reactionthereto.

FIG. 16 is a logic diagram of an example of a method of data processingof the test system. The method begins with step 124 a set of drive-sensecircuits (DSCs) of a plurality of DSCs of a test system transmits a setof signals on a set of test container electrodes of a test container ofa test container array of the test system. The test container containsan amount of a solution. The solution maintains the integrity andviability of biological material (e.g., a cell) and negligiblyinterferes with testing substances or biochemical reactions. Forexample, the solution is a saline solution, a preservative, a cellculture solution, etc.

The method continues with step 126 where the set of DSCs detect a set ofchanges in electrical characteristics of the set of test containerelectrodes. The method continues with step 128 where a processing moduleof the test system interprets the set of changes in the electricalcharacteristics of the set of electrodes as a set of impedance valuescorresponding to the solution. The processing module interprets the setof changes in the electrical characteristics of the set of electrodes asa set of impedance values as described with reference to FIGS. 8-10.

The method continues with step 130 where, when biological material isadded to the test container, the set of DSCs transmit a second set ofsignals on the set of test container electrodes. The biological materialincludes one or more cells and/or one or more portions of a cell (e.g.,a section of cell membrane). The method continues with step 132 wherethe set of DSCs detect a second set of changes in the electricalcharacteristics of the set of test container electrodes. The methodcontinues with step 134 where the processing module interprets thesecond set of changes in the electrical characteristics of the set ofelectrodes as a second set of impedance values corresponding to thebiological material in the solution. The processing module interpretsthe second set of changes in the electrical characteristics of the setof electrodes as the second set of impedance values corresponding to thebiological material in the solution using similar method to thosedescribed with reference to FIGS. 8-10.

The method continues with step 136 where the processing moduledetermines the electrical characteristics of the biological material bycomparing the set of impedance values corresponding to the solution tothe second set of impedance values corresponding to the biologicalmaterial in the solution. The electrical characteristics of thebiological material include cell impedance, membrane potential, size,shape, density, movement, orientation, cell excitation (e.g., beatamplitude), etc.

The method continues with step 138 where, when a testing substance isadded to the test container, the set of DSCs transmit a third set ofsignals on the set of test container electrodes. A testing substance maybe a chemical such as a drug or pesticide. The method continues withstep 140 where the set of DSCs detect a third set of changes in theelectrical characteristics of the set of test container electrodes. Themethod continues with step 142 where the processing module interpretsthe third set of changes in the electrical characteristics of the set ofelectrodes as a third set of impedance values corresponding to thebiological material in the testing substance and the solution. Theprocessing module interprets the third set of changes in the electricalcharacteristics of the set of electrodes as the third set of impedancevalues corresponding to the biological material in the solution usingsimilar method to those described with reference to FIGS. 8-10.

The method continues with step 144 where the processing moduledetermines electrical characteristics of the biological material in thetesting substance by comparing the second set of impedance valuescorresponding to the biological material in the solution with the thirdset of impedance values corresponding to the biological material in thetesting substance and the solution.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a test container array 12 and a testing base144. The test container array 12 includes a plurality of test containers14 and the testing base 144 includes a plurality of testing basecontainers 148. The test container array 12 is constructed to fit intothe testing base 144. As such, the testing base containers 148 areslightly larger than the test containers 14 but are of a similar shape.

Both the test container array 12 and the testing base 144 may includemore or less test containers 14 and testing base containers 148 thanshown. The test containers 14 and testing base containers 148 may be avariety of shapes, depths, and sizes (e.g., cylindrical, rectangularprism, circular, test tube, petri dish, etc.). Each test container 14includes a set of test container electrodes 16 and each testing basecontainer 148 includes a set of testing base electrodes 146. The set oftest container electrodes 16 includes one or more test containerelectrodes. The set of testing base electrodes 146 includes one or moretesting base electrodes 146.

The test container electrodes 16 and the testing base electrodes 146 areelectric conductors used to carry current into, alter, or measureconductivity of non-metallic solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, orvacuums. The test container electrodes 16 and the testing baseelectrodes 146 are constructed of electrically conductive material. Forexample, the test container electrodes 16 and the testing baseelectrodes 146 may be a transparent conductive material, such thatoptical observations of the testing container 14 are unobstructed. As aspecific example, an electrode is constructed from one or more of:Indium Tin Oxide, Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes, Thin Metal Films, SilverNanowires Hybrid Materials, Aluminum-doped Zinc Oxide (AZO), AmorphousIndium-Zinc Oxide, Gallium-doped Zinc Oxide (GZO), and poly polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT).

The test container electrodes 16 and the testing base electrodes 146 maybe a variety of shapes (e.g., coil, cylindrical, conical, flat, square,circular, domed, spherical, spear shaped, etc.) and may be placed in avariety of positions within the test container 14 and the testing base144 such that the test container electrodes 16 and the testing baseelectrodes 146 align for electric coupling. Here, four test containerelectrodes 16 are shown near the bottom corners of the test container 14and four test container electrodes 16 are below a solution 20 fill lineof the test container 14. Likewise, four testing base electrodes 146 areshown near the bottom corners of the testing base 148 and four testingbase electrodes 146 are in a position corresponding to the solution 20fill line of the test container 14.

The test system 10 is operable to detect and interpret electricalcharacteristics of a mass such as an inorganic material or an organicmaterial. For example, an organic material includes one or more of: oneor more cells (e.g., an individual cell, multiple cells, tissue, etc.)and one or more portions of a cell (e.g., a section of cell membrane). Acell may be an animal, human, plant, and/or other biological cell and isany type of cell (e.g., heart, brain, neuron, muscle, skin, lung, etc.).

A mass 18 is shown in a solution 20 in the testing container 14. Thesolution 20 maintains the integrity and viability of the mass 18 andnegligibly interferes with testing substances or biochemical reactions.For example, the solution 20 is a saline solution, a preservative, acell culture solution, etc. The test system 10 is operable to detect andinterpret the electrical characteristics of the testing container 14with the solution 20, the electrical characteristics of the mass 18 inthe solution 20, and the electrical characteristics of the mass 18 inthe solution 20 when a testing substance is added.

Based on the differences between the detected electrical characteristics(e.g., with and without the testing substance), the test system 10 candetermine the effect of a testing substance on a mass. The electricalcharacteristics of the mass 18 include one or more of cell impedance,membrane potential, size, shape, density, movement, orientation, cellexcitation (e.g., beat amplitude), etc. For example, in a non-viablecell, the cell membrane of a cell is unable to maintain its potentialresulting in a decreased capacitance (e.g., as a cell dies, itsimpedance drops). As another example, the shape of a cell responds verysensitively to chemical, biological, or physical stimuli. Therefore, acell that has reduced or increased in shape as a result of exposure to atesting substance indicates a biological effect (e.g., cell destruction,etc.).

In an example of operation, the test container array 12 is placed in thetesting base 144 such that the plurality of test container electrodes 16electrically couple with the plurality of testing base electrodes 146.The coupling between the test container electrodes 16 and the pluralityof testing base electrodes 146 may be direct, capacitive, or inductive(e.g., when the electrodes are coils). When the contents of the testingcontainer 14 affect the electrical characteristics of the test containerelectrodes 16, the electrical characteristics of the plurality oftesting base electrodes 146 are also affected due to the electriccoupling between the test container electrodes 16 and the plurality oftesting base electrodes 146.

FIG. 18 is a cross schematic block diagram of another embodiment of atest system 10 that includes a cross sectional view of a test containerarray 12 resting in a testing base 144. The test container array 12includes a plurality of test containers 14 and the testing base 144includes a plurality of testing base containers 148. Each test container14 includes a set of test container electrodes 16 and each testing basecontainer 148 includes a set of testing base electrodes 146. The testcontainer array 12 is placed in the testing base 144 such that theplurality of test container electrodes 16 electrically couple with theplurality of testing base electrodes 146. The coupling between the testcontainer electrodes 16 and the plurality of testing base electrodes 146may be direct, capacitive, or inductive (e.g., when the electrodes arecoils).

The testing base 144 further includes a plurality of drive-sensecircuits (DSCs), a processing module 150, and a communication module152. The communication module 152 is constructed in accordance with oneor more wired communication protocol and/or one or more wirelesscommunication protocols that is/are in accordance with the one or moreof the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model, the Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model, and other communicationprotocol module.

Each testing base electrode 146 is coupled to a drive-sense circuit(DSC). The DSCs provide electrode signals to the test containerelectrodes 16 and detect changes in electrical characteristics of thetest container electrodes. The DSCs function as described in co-pendingpatent application entitled, “DRIVE SENSE CIRCUIT WITH DRIVE-SENSELINE”, having a serial number of Ser. No. 16/113,379, and a filing dateof Aug. 27, 2018 and in accordance with the discussion of previousFigures.

When the contents of the testing container 14 affect the electricalcharacteristics of the test container electrodes 16, the electricalcharacteristics of the plurality of testing base electrodes 146 are alsoaffected due to the electric coupling between the test containerelectrodes 16 and the plurality of testing base electrodes 146. The DSCsprovide the detected changes in electrical characteristics of thetesting base electrodes 146 to the processing module 150. The processingmodule 150 is described in greater detail at the end of the detaileddescription of the invention section and operates similarly to the testcontainer array processing module and the test container processingmodule of previous Figures. The processing module 150 processes thedetected changes in electrical characteristics of the testing baseelectrodes 146 from the DSCs to determine the electrical characteristicsof biological material present in the testing containers 14. Theprocessing the detected changes in electrical characteristics of thetesting base electrodes 146 from the DSCs to determine the electricalcharacteristics of biological material occurs similarly to the methodsdescribed with reference to FIGS. 7-16.

The processing module 150 communicates the electrical characteristics ofthe biological material to the communication module 152. Communicatingthe electrical characteristics of biological material to thecommunication module 152 may include formatting the data in a particularformat with respect to the communication protocol of the communicationmodule. The communication module 152 is operable to communicate theelectrical characteristics of cells via one or more communicationprotocols.

FIG. 19 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a sensing surface 158 and a standard testcontainer array 154. The standard test container array 154 includes aplurality of standard test containers 160. The plurality of standardtest containers 160 do not include electrodes as compared to the testcontainer array of previous Figures. The standard test container array154 may be comprised of a variety of materials such as polystyrene,polypropylene, glass, flexible plastic tape, and quartz, and may be avariety of shapes and sizes. The standard test container array 154 isshown as a rectangular array of 8×12 cubical standard test containers160. The standard test container array may include more or less standardtest containers 160 than shown and the standard test containers 160 maybe a variety of shapes, depths, and sizes (e.g., cylindrical,rectangular prism, circular, test tube, petri dish, etc.).

The sensing surface 158 includes a plurality of sensors (e.g.,electrodes, capacitor sensing cells, capacitor sensors, inductivesensor, etc.) to detect electrical characteristics of a mass 18 (e.g., abiological material such as one or more cells) present in the standardtest container array 154 when the standard test container array 154 isplaced in close proximity (e.g., is in physical contact) to the sensingsurface 158.

FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a sensingsurface 158 that includes a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), asensing surface processing module 164, and a communication module 166.The sensing surface processing module 164 (i.e., a processing module) isdescribed in greater detail at the end of the detailed description ofthe invention section and operates similarly to the test container arrayand test container processing modules of previous Figures.

The communication module 166 is constructed in accordance with one ormore wired communication protocol and/or one or more wirelesscommunication protocols that is/are in accordance with the one or moreof the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model, the Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model, and other communicationprotocol module. The communication module 166 may include a wirelesscommunication unit or a wired communication unit. A wirelesscommunication unit includes a wireless local area network (WLAN)communication device, a cellular communication device, a Bluetoothdevice, and/or a ZigBee communication device. A wired communication unitincludes a Gigabit LAN connection, a Firewire connection, and/or aproprietary computer wired connection.

The sensing surface 158 includes integrated electrodes 162 that aredistributed throughout the sensing surface 158 or where sensingfunctionality is desired. For example, a first group of the electrodesare arranged in rows and a second group of electrodes are arranged incolumns. As will be discussed in greater detail with reference to one ormore of FIGS. 21A-28, the row electrodes are separated from the columnelectrodes by a dielectric material.

The sensing surface 158 may include one or more layers (e.g., dielectriclayers) and the electrodes 162 are comprised of a conductive materialsuch as one or more of: Indium Tin Oxide, Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes,Thin Metal Films, Silver Nanowires Hybrid Materials, Aluminum-doped ZincOxide (AZO), Amorphous Indium-Zinc Oxide, Gallium-doped Zinc Oxide(GZO), and poly polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT). The electrodes 162 arein-cell or on-cell with respect to layers of the sensing surface 158.For example, a conductive trace is placed in-cell or on-cell of a layerof the sensing surface 158.

Each drive-sense circuit (DSC) is coupled to a row or a column electrode162 of the sensing surface and detects changes to the electricalcharacteristics of the electrodes. The sensing surface processing module164 is coupled to the plurality of DSCs and interprets the detectedchanges in electrical characteristics of the electrodes as changes inthe impedance of the electrode. The impedance of an electrode depends ona self-capacitance (e.g., the capacitance of the electrode with respectto a reference (e.g., ground, etc.) and a mutual capacitance (e.g., thecapacitance between a row electrode and a column electrode).

In an example of operation, a standard test container array (e.g., atest container array with no integrated electrodes) is placed onto orwithin close proximity to the sensing surface 158. The standard testcontainer array and its contents have an effect on the mutualcapacitance of the electrodes 162 and a negligible effect on theself-capacitance of the electrodes 162. A standard test container array(filled with a solution) has a first effect on the mutual capacitance ofthe electrodes 162 due to the properties of the standard test containerarray and/or the solution. When biological material (e.g., one or morebiological cells, biological tissue, a portion of a cell, etc.),solutions, testing substances, etc., are added to the standard testcontainer array, the mutual capacitance of the electrodes are affected.

The plurality of DSCs detect changes in electrical characteristics ofthe electrodes 162 (e.g., due to mutual capacitance change). Whendetected, the plurality of DSCs send a set of changes in electricalcharacteristics of a set of electrodes 162 to the sensing surfaceprocessing module 164. The sensing surface processing module 164receives the set of changes in electrical characteristics of the set ofelectrodes 162 and interprets the set of changes in electricalcharacteristics as a mutual capacitance value representative ofelectrical characteristics of biological material. The sensing surfaceprocessing module 164 interprets the set of changes in electricalcharacteristics as a mutual capacitance value representative ofelectrical characteristics of biological material using similar methodsas described in FIGS. 7-15.

The sensing surface processing module 164 communicates the electricalcharacteristics of the biological material to the communication module166. Communicating the electrical characteristics of biological materialto the communication module 32 may include formatting the data in aparticular format with respect to the communication protocol of thecommunication module. The communication module 166 is operable tocommunicate the electrical characteristics of biological material viaone or more communication protocols.

FIGS. 21A-21B are schematic block diagrams of embodiments of a sensingsurface electrode pattern that includes rows of electrodes 162-r andcolumns of electrodes 162-c. Each row of electrodes 162-r and eachcolumn of electrodes 162-c includes a plurality of individual conductivecells (e.g., capacitive sense plates) (e.g., light gray squares forrows, dark gray squares for columns) that are electrically coupledtogether. The size of a conductive cell depends on the desiredresolution of sensing.

For example, a conductive cell size may be 1 millimeter by 1 millimeteror less to 5 millimeters by 5 millimeters or more and based on the sizeof a standard test container, the size and type of biological materialsto be sensed, and the type of information to be sensed. For example, alarger conductive cell size may be appropriate when measuring theelectrical network properties of brain tissue or heart tissue. However,the testing of single biological cells requires higher resolution.Making the conductive cells smaller improves sensing resolution and willtypically reduce sensor errors (e.g., prevention of sensing electricalcharacteristics from more than one testing container). While the cellsare shown to be square, they may be of any polygonal shape, diamond, orcircular shape.

The cells for the rows and columns may be on the same layer or ondifferent layers. In FIG. 21A, the cells for the rows and columns areshown on the same layer. In FIG. 21B, the cells for the rows and columnsare shown on different layers. The electric coupling between the cellsis done using vias and running traces (e.g., wire traces) on anotherlayer. Note that the cells are on one or more layers (e.g., ITO layers)of the sensing surface.

FIGS. 22A-22B are cross section schematic block diagrams of examples ofcapacitance of a sensing surface 158 with no contact with a testcontainer array. The sensing surface 158 includes electrodes 162 spositioned proximal to a dielectric layer 170, which may be between atop dielectric layer 172 and a substrate 168.

In FIG. 22A, the row electrodes 162-r 1 and 162-r 2 are on the topdielectric layer 172 above the column electrodes 162-c 1 and 162-c 2which are on the dielectric layer 170. In FIG. 22B, the row electrodes162-r and the column electrodes 162-c are on the same layer (e.g.,dielectric layer 170). Each electrode 162 has a self-capacitance, whichcorresponds to a parasitic capacitance created by the electrode withrespect to other conductors in the sensing surface 158 (e.g., ground,conductive layer(s), and/or one or more other electrodes).

For example, row electrode 162-r 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p2),column electrode 162-c 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p1), rowelectrode 162-r 2 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p4), and columnelectrode 162-c 2 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p3). Note that eachelectrode includes a resistance component and, as such, produces adistributed R-C circuit. The longer the electrode, the greater theimpedance of the distributed R-C circuit. For simplicity of illustrationthe distributed R-C circuit of an electrode will be represented as asingle parasitic self-capacitance.

As shown, the sensing surface 158 includes a plurality of layers168-172. Each illustrated layer may itself include one or more layers.For example, the dielectric layer 172 may include a surface protectivefilm, a glass protective film, and/or one or more pressure sensitiveadhesive (PSA) or temperature sensitive layers. As another example, thesecond dielectric layer 170 may include a glass cover, a polyester (PET)film, a support plate (glass or plastic) to support, or embed, one ormore of the electrodes 162-c 1, 162-c 2, 162-r 1, and 162-r 2 (e.g.,where the column and row electrodes are on different layers), a baseplate (glass, plastic, or PET), an ITO layer, and one or more PSAlayers. As yet another example, the substrate 168 includes one or moreof a base plate (glass, plastic, or PET), an ITO layer, and one or morePSA layers.

A mutual capacitance (Cm_1 and Cm_2) exists between a row electrode anda column electrode. When no test container array is present, theself-capacitances and mutual capacitances of the sensing surface 158 areat a nominal state. Depending on the length, width, and thickness of theelectrodes, separation from the electrodes and other conductivesurfaces, and dielectric properties of the layers, the self-capacitancesand mutual capacitances can range from a few pico-Farads to 10's ofnano-Farads.

The sensing surface 158 includes a plurality of drive sense circuits(DSCs). The DSCs are coupled to the electrodes of the sensing surface158 and detect changes in electrical characteristics of affectedelectrodes. The DSCs function as described in co-pending patentapplication entitled, “DRIVE SENSE CIRCUIT WITH DRIVE-SENSE LINE”,having a serial number of Ser. No. 16/113,379, and a filing date of Aug.27, 2018 and as described in previous Figures.

FIG. 23 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example of amutual capacitance electric field (E-field) 174 of electrodes 162 of asensing surface 158. A row electrode 162-r 1 and a column electrode162-c 1 of the sensing surface 158 are shown on separate dielectriclayers 172-170 respectively. The row electrode 162-r 1 has aself-capacitance C_(p2) (e.g., the capacitance of the row electrode162-r 1 with respect to a reference (e.g., ground, etc.)) and the columnelectrode 162-c 1 has a self-capacitance C_(p1) (e.g., the capacitanceof the column electrode 162-c 1 with respect to a reference (e.g.,ground, etc.)).

The mutual capacitance C_(m_1) is the capacitance between the rowelectrode 162-r 1 and the column electrode 162-c 1. When a charge of +Qis delivered to the row electrode 162-r 1, a charge of −Q will beinduced on the column electrode 162-c 1 in order to keep the systemneutral. The mutual capacitance C_(m_1) can be represented by theequation C_(m_1)=Q/V where V is the voltage difference between the rowelectrode 162-r 1 and the column electrode 162-c 1, and Q is the chargedistribution between the row electrode 162-r 1 and the column electrode162-c 1. As such, a mutual capacitance electric field (E-field) 174exists between the row electrode 162-r 1 and the column electrode 162-c1 as shown by the mutual capacitance E-field lines 176. When the rowelectrode 162-r 1 has a charge of +Q, the mutual capacitance E-fieldlines 176 are shown with an arrow directed toward the negative charge −Qof the column electrode 162-c 1.

FIG. 24 is an example of a cell electric field (E-field) 178. Asdiscussed previously, the inside of a cell 18 is more negatively chargedthan the outside due to the concentration difference of ions inside andoutside of the cell 18. As such, the cell 18 has a cell membranepotential or cell membrane voltage, which is the difference in electricpotential between the interior and exterior of the cell 18. Typicalvalues of membrane potential from the exterior of the cell are measuredin ranges from −35 mV to −90 mV.

The different concentrations of internal and external ions of the cell18 result in a positive charge buildup on the outside of the membraneand a negative charge buildup on the inside of the cell membrane (e.g.,the cell membrane capacitance). Thus, a cell E-field 178 exists shown bythe cell E-field lines 180 with arrows directed outward from thepositively charged exterior of the cell 18.

FIG. 25 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an embodiment of atest system 10 that includes a sensing surface 158 in contact with astandard test container 160 of a standard test container array 154. Thesensing surface 158 includes the substrate 168, rows of electrodes 162-ron dielectric layer 172, columns of electrodes 162-c on dielectric layer170, and a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs).

Each electrode 162 has a self-capacitance, which corresponds to aparasitic capacitance created by the electrode with respect to otherconductors in the sensing surface 158 (e.g., ground, conductivelayer(s), and/or one or more other electrodes). For example, rowelectrode 162-r 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p2), column electrode162-c 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p1), row electrode 162-r 2 has aparasitic capacitance C_(p4), and column electrode 162-c 2 has aparasitic capacitance C_(p3). As previously discussed, mutualcapacitance electric fields (E-fields) 174 exist between the rowelectrodes 162-r and the column electrodes 162-c.

A cross section of the standard test container 160 of the standard testcontainer array is shown containing one or more cells (“cell”) 18 a anda solution 20 (e.g., a saline solution, preservative, etc.). The cell 18a has a cell membrane potential (e.g., voltage) as previously discussedand thus has a cell E-field 178. When the test container arraycontaining the cell 18 a is placed on the sensing surface 158, the cellE-field 178 interferes with the mutual capacitance E-field 174 in asubtractive or additive manner. This interference or E-field disturbance182 affects the mutual capacitance of the electrodes 162. For example, areduction in the mutual capacitance E-field 174 results in a highermutual capacitance and an increase in the mutual capacitance E-field 174results in a lower mutual capacitance.

A mutual capacitance C_(m_3) exists between the row electrode 162-r 1and the column electrode 162-c 1 where C_(m_3) is equal to C_(m_1) (ofFIG. 22A, i.e., the mutual capacitance prior to the E-field disturbance)plus the effect of the E-field disturbance 182. A mutual capacitanceC_(m_4) exists between the row electrode 162-r 2 and the columnelectrode 162-c 2 where C_(m_4) is equal to C_(m_2) (of FIG. 22A, i.e.,the mutual capacitance prior to the E-field disturbance) plus the effectof the E-field disturbance 182. Here, the cell E-field 178 lines and themutual capacitance E-field 174 lines are in opposite directions suchthat the E-field disturbance 182 is likely subtractive. With asubtractive E-field disturbance 182, C_(m_3) and C_(m_4) are greaterthan the values of C_(m_1) and C_(m_2) of FIG. 22A. The self-capacitancevalues are unaffected.

The DSCs are coupled to the electrodes of the sensing surface 158 anddetect changes in the electrical characteristics of the electrodes. Forexample, the DSCs detect a change in the mutual capacitance of theelectrodes due to the E-field disturbance 182 created by the presence ofthe cell 18 a in the solution 20. The DSCs are coupled to a sensingsurface processing module 164 that interprets the detected changes inelectrical characteristics of the electrodes 162 as a change in theimpedance of the electrode and interpret the change in impedance aselectrical characteristics of biological material (e.g., the cell 18 a).The electrical characteristics of biological material may includeposition, impedance, shape, movement, density, excitability, andpotential.

For example, a first mutual capacitance measurement corresponds tobiological material in a solution 20 (e.g., the e-field of thebiological material disturbs the mutual capacitance e-field of theelectrode changing the mutual capacitance of the electrodes affected bythe biological material). The first mutual capacitance measurement maycorrespond to the strength of the biological material's electric fieldand thus indicate biological material characteristics such as cellmembrane capacitance, cell membrane potential, etc. Depending on whichelectrodes are experiencing a change and at what level, a position,orientation, shape etc., of the biological material can be determined.

When a testing substance is added to the standard test container 160, asecond mutual capacitance measurement may correspond to the strength ofthe biological material's electric field as affected by the testingsubstance. Comparing the first and second mutual capacitancemeasurements indicates biological material characteristics such as cellmembrane capacitance, cell membrane potential, etc., when the cell isexposed to the testing substance. Depending on which electrodes areexperiencing a change and at what level, a change in the position,orientation, shape etc., of the biological material can be determined.

FIG. 26 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an example ofcapacitance of a sensing surface 158 in contact with a standard testcontainer 160 containing one or more cells (“cell”) 18 a. The sensingsurface 158 includes the row electrodes 162-r 1 and 162-r 2 positionedon a top dielectric layer 172 and the column electrodes 162-c 1 and162-c 2 positioned on a dielectric layer 170. An additional dielectriclayer 184 is between the row electrodes 162-r 1 and 162-r 2 and thecolumn electrodes 162-c 1 and 162-c 2.

Each electrode 162 has a self-capacitance, which corresponds to aparasitic capacitance created by the electrode with respect to otherconductors in the sensing surface 158 (e.g., ground, conductivelayer(s), and/or one or more other electrodes). For example, rowelectrode 162-r 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p2), column electrode162-c 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p1), row electrode 162-r 2 has aparasitic capacitance C_(p4), and column electrode 162-c 2 has aparasitic capacitance C_(p3).

A mutual capacitance (Cm_5 and Cm_6) exists between a row electrode anda column electrode. The dielectric layer 184 has a high dielectricconstant in order to increase the mutual capacitance between the rowelectrode and column electrodes according to the equation C=εA/d where εis the dielectric constant, A is the area of an electrode, and d is thedistance between the row and column electrodes. Cell membranecapacitances (C_(CM)) range from 0.9 μF/cm² to 2 μF/cm² (e.g., 90-200pF/μm²) and cell diameters range from 5-150 μm. The mutual capacitancebetween a row and column electrode is in the range of 1-2 pF. Capacitivecoupling between a cell 18 a (e.g., the cell membrane capacitanceC_(CM)) and the row and column electrodes alters the mutual capacitance.For example, capacitance of two capacitors (e.g., C1 and C2) in seriesis calculated by the equation C1×C2/(C1+C2). As such, when C_(CM) is at90 pF and mutual capacitance (e.g., Cm_5) is at 2 pF, the mutualcapacitance drops to 1.956 pF. While the DSCs are able to detect slightchanges in the electrical characteristics of electrodes, increasingmutual capacitance through dielectrics enhances the detection of subtlemutual capacitance changes.

Here, the mutual capacitance Cm_5 between the row electrode 162-r 1 andthe column electrode 162-c 1 is greater than Cm_1 of FIG. 22A and mutualcapacitance Cm_6 between the row electrode 162-r 2 and the columnelectrode 162-c 2 is greater than Cm_2 of FIG. 22A due to the highdielectric constant of dielectric layer 184 to enhance the capacitivecoupling effect between the electrodes and the cell 18 a.

FIG. 27 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a sensingsurface electrode pattern that includes rows of electrodes 162-r andcolumns of electrodes 162-c on different layers of the sensing surface.Each row of electrodes 162-r and each column of electrodes 162-cincludes a plurality of individual conductive cells (e.g., capacitivesense plates) (e.g., light gray squares for rows, dark gray squares forcolumns) that are electrically coupled together.

The pattern further includes circular metal traces 186 that arepositioned in between the column and row layers and located where a rowelectrode overlaps a column electrode. The addition of the circularmetal traces 186 increase the mutual capacitance between the row andcolumn electrodes. While a circular metal trace 186 is shown, a varietyof conductive traces and conductive trace sizes and shapes could beused.

FIG. 28 is a cross section schematic block diagram of an examples ofcapacitance of a sensing surface 158 with no contact with the standardtest container array. The sensing surface 158 includes the rowelectrodes 162-r 1 and 162-r 2 positioned on a top dielectric layer 172and the column electrodes 162-c 1 and 162-c 2 positioned on a dielectriclayer 170. An additional dielectric layer 184 is between the rowelectrodes 162-r 1 and 162-r 2 and the column electrodes 162-c 1 and162-c 2 includes circular metal traces 186 positioned between the rowand column electrodes.

Each electrode 162 has a self-capacitance, which corresponds to aparasitic capacitance created by the electrode with respect to otherconductors in the sensing surface 158 (e.g., ground, conductivelayer(s), and/or one or more other electrodes). For example, rowelectrode 162-r 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p2), column electrode162-c 1 has a parasitic capacitance C_(p1), row electrode 162-r 2 has aparasitic capacitance C_(p4), and column electrode 162-c 2 has aparasitic capacitance C_(p3).

A mutual capacitance (Cm_7 and Cm_8) exists between a row electrode anda column electrode. The addition of the circular metal trace 186 betweenthe row and column electrodes creates two capacitors in series between arow and column electrodes. The equivalent capacitance for these two inseries capacitors is given by the equation Ceq=εA/(d−a) where d is thedistance between a row and column electrode and a is the distancebetween an electrode and the circular metal trace 186. Therefore, addingthe circular metal trace 186 increases the mutual capacitance between arow and column electrode since d is effectively reduced.

Here, the mutual capacitance Cm_7 between the row electrode 162-r 1 andthe column electrode 162-c 1 is greater than Cm_1 of FIG. 22A and mutualcapacitance Cm_8 between the row electrode 162-r 2 and the columnelectrode 162-c 2 is greater than Cm_2 of FIG. 22A due to the additionof the circular metal traces 186. Increasing the mutual capacitanceenhances the detection of subtle mutual capacitance changes caused bythe capacitive coupling of biological material.

FIG. 29 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a standard test container array 154 and asensing top 188. The standard test container array 154 includes aplurality of standard test containers 160. The plurality of standardtest containers 160 do not include electrodes. The standard testcontainer array 154 may be comprised of a variety of materials such aspolystyrene, polypropylene, glass, flexible plastic tape, and quartz,and may be a variety of shapes and sizes. The standard test containerarray 154 is shown as a rectangular array of 8×12 cubical standard testcontainers 160. The standard test container array may include more orless standard test containers 160 than shown and the standard testcontainers 160 may be a variety of shapes, depths, and sizes (e.g.,cylindrical, rectangular prism, circular, test tube, petri dish, etc.).

The sensing top 188 includes a plurality of insertable electrodes 190and a plurality of testing substance openings 192. The plurality ofinsertable electrodes 190 project outward from the sensing top 188 suchthat they may be placed into the tests containers of the standard testcontainer array 154. The plurality of insertable electrodes 190 may beof various widths, lengths, and conductive materials. The plurality ofinsertable electrodes 190 may be disposable pieces or have a disposablecoating and/or removable layer.

The plurality of insertable electrodes 190 detect electricalcharacteristics of biological material (e.g., cell 18) present in thestandard test container array 154 when the plurality of sensinginsertable 190 of the insertable sensing top 188 are placed into thestandard test container array 154. With the plurality of testingsubstance openings 192, testing substances can be added to the standardtest container array 154 without removing the insertable electrodes 190.

FIG. 30 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another embodimentof a test system 10 that includes a cross sectional view of a sensingtop 188 resting in a standard test container array 154. The standardtest container array 154 includes a plurality of standard testcontainers 160. The sensing top 188 includes a plurality of insertableelectrodes 190, a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a pluralityof testing substance openings 192, a sensing top processing module 194,and a communication module 196. The communication module 196 isconstructed in accordance with one or more wired communication protocoland/or one or more wireless communication protocols that is/are inaccordance with the one or more of the Open System Interconnection (OSI)model, the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)model, and other communication protocol module.

Each insertable electrode 190 is coupled to a drive-sense circuit (DSC).The DSCs provide electrode signals to the test container electrodes 16and detect changes in electrical characteristics of the test containerelectrodes. The DSCs function as described in co-pending patentapplication entitled, “DRIVE SENSE CIRCUIT WITH DRIVE-SENSE LINE”,having a serial number of Ser. No. 16/113,379, and a filing date of Aug.27, 2018 and in accordance with the discussion of previous Figures.

Contents of the standard test containers 160 affect the electricalcharacteristics of the insertable electrodes 188. In order to detect theeffect of testing substances on biological material present in thestandard test containers 160, the sensing top 188 includes the pluralityof testing substance openings 192. With the plurality of testingsubstance openings 192, testing substances can be added to the standardtest container array 154 without removing the electrodes 190.

The DSCs provide the detected changes in electrical characteristics ofthe insertable electrodes 190 to the sensing top processing module 194.The sensing top processing module 194 is described in greater detail atthe end of the detailed description of the invention section andoperates similarly to the processing modules of previous Figures. Thesensing top processing module 194 processes the detected changes inelectrical characteristics of the insertable electrodes 190 from theDSCs to determine the electrical characteristics of biological materialpresent in the standard testing containers 160. The sensing topprocessing module 194 processes the detected changes in electricalcharacteristics of the insertable electrodes 190 from the DSCs todetermine the electrical characteristics of biological material inaccordance with the methods described in FIGS. 8-15.

The sensing top processing module 194 communicates the electricalcharacteristics of the biological material to the communication module196. Communicating the electrical characteristics of biological materialto the communication module 196 may include formatting the data in aparticular format with respect to the communication protocol of thecommunication module. The communication module 196 is operable tocommunicate the electrical characteristics of cells via one or morecommunication protocols.

FIG. 31 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a standard test container array 154 and asensing top 188. The standard test container array 154 includes aplurality of standard test containers 160. The sensing top 188 includesa plurality of insertable electrodes 190 and a plurality of testingsubstance openings 192. The plurality of insertable electrodes 190project outward from the sensing top 188 such that they may be placedinto the standard test container array 154. The plurality insertableelectrodes 190 may be of various widths, lengths, and conductivematerials. The plurality of insertable electrodes 190 may be disposablepieces or have a disposable coating and/or removable layer.

A sensing top section 204 of the sensing top 188 has eight insertableelectrodes 190 for inserting into a corresponding standard testcontainer 160 of the standard test container array 154. The plurality ofstandard test containers 160 do not include electrodes. The standardtest container array 154 is shown as a rectangular array of 2×4 cubicalstandard test containers 160. The standard test container array mayinclude more or less standard test containers 160 than shown and thestandard test containers 160 may be a variety of shapes, depths, andsizes (e.g., cylindrical, rectangular prism, circular, test tube, petridish, etc.).

The test system 10 of FIG. 31 operates similarly to the test systems ofFIGS. 29 and 30 except that the standard test container array 154 andthe sensing top 188 are connected via a hinge 194. The plurality ofsensing top electrodes 190 detect electrical characteristics ofbiological material (e.g., cell 18) present in the standard testcontainer array 154 when the plurality of sensing top electrodes 190 ofthe insertable sensing top 188 are placed into the standard testcontainer array 154.

FIG. 32 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a testsystem 10 that includes a test container array 198 and a sensing top188. The test container array 198 includes a plurality of test containerelectrodes 202. The sensing top 188 includes a plurality of testingsubstance openings 192 and a plurality of insertable electrodes 190 thatproject outward and are positioned to align with the plurality of testcontainer electrodes 202 when inserted into the test container array198.

A sensing top section 204 of the sensing top 188 has eight insertableelectrodes 190 for inserting into a corresponding test container 200 ofthe test container array 198. The plurality of insertable electrodes 190and the plurality of test container electrodes 202 may be of variousshapes, widths, lengths, and conductive materials. The plurality ofinsertable electrodes 190 may be disposable pieces or have a disposablecoating and/or removable layer. The sensing top 188 is connected to thetest container array 198 by a hinge 194.

The test container electrodes 202 and the insertable electrodes 190 maybe placed in a variety of positions such that the test containerelectrodes 202 and the insertable electrodes 190 align for electriccoupling. Here, four test container electrodes 202 are shown near thebottom corners of the test container 200 and four test containerelectrodes 202 are below a solution 20 fill line of the test container200. Therefore, in the sensing top section 204, four insertableelectrodes 190 are shown at one length to align with the bottom fourtest container electrodes 202 and four insertable electrodes 190 areshown at another length to align with the solution line test containerelectrodes 202.

When the sensing top 188 is lowered onto the test container array 198the plurality of insertable electrodes 190 electrically couple with theplurality of testing container electrodes 202. The coupling between theplurality of insertable electrodes 190 and the plurality of testingcontainer electrodes 202 may be direct, capacitive, or inductive (e.g.,when the electrodes are coils). When the contents (e.g., cell 18 andsolution 20) of a test container 200 affect the electricalcharacteristics of the test container electrodes 202, the electricalcharacteristics of the plurality of insertable electrodes 190 are alsoaffected due to the electric coupling.

FIG. 33 is a cross section schematic block diagram of another embodimentof a test system 10 that includes that includes a cross sectional viewof a sensing top 188 resting on a test container array 198 where thesensing top 188 and test container array are connected by a hinge 194.

The sensing top 188 includes a plurality of insertable electrodes 190,and a plurality of testing substance openings 192. The test containerarray 198 includes a plurality of test containers 200, a plurality oftest container electrodes 202, a plurality of drive-sense circuits(DSCs), a test container array processing module 206, and acommunication module 208. The communication module 196 is constructed inaccordance with one or more wired communication protocol and/or one ormore wireless communication protocols that is/are in accordance with theone or more of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model, theTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model, andother communication protocol module.

Each test container electrode 202 is coupled to a drive-sense circuit(DSC). The DSCs provide electrode signals to the test containerelectrodes 202 and detect changes in electrical characteristics of thetest container electrodes. The DSCs function as described in co-pendingpatent application entitled, “DRIVE SENSE CIRCUIT WITH DRIVE-SENSELINE”, having a serial number of Ser. No. 16/113,379, and a filing dateof Aug. 27, 2018 and in accordance with the discussion of previousFigures.

When the contents of the testing container 200 affect the electricalcharacteristics of the insertable electrodes 190, the electricalcharacteristics of the plurality of testing container electrodes 202 arealso affected due to the electric coupling between the test containerelectrodes 202 and the plurality of insertable electrodes 190. The DSCsprovide the detected changes in electrical characteristics of the testcontainer electrodes 202 to the test container array processing module206.

The test container array processing module 206 is described in greaterdetail at the end of the detailed description of the invention sectionand operates similarly to the processing modules of previous Figures.The test container array processing module 206 processes the detectedchanges in electrical characteristics of the test container electrodes202 from the DSCs to determine the electrical characteristics ofbiological material present in the test containers 200. The testcontainer array processing module 206 processes the detected changes inelectrical characteristics of the test container electrodes 202 from theDSCs to determine the electrical characteristics of biological materialpresent in accordance with the methods described in FIGS. 8-15.

The test container array processing module 206 communicates theelectrical characteristics of the biological material to thecommunication module 208. Communicating the electrical characteristicsof biological material to the communication module 208 may includeformatting the data in a particular format with respect to thecommunication protocol of the communication module. The communicationmodule 208 is operable to communicate the electrical characteristics ofcells via one or more communication protocols.

FIG. 34 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of the testsystem 10 that includes that includes a cross sectional view of asensing top 188 resting in a test container array 198 where the sensingtop 188 and test container array are connected by a hinge 194.

The sensing top 188 includes a plurality of insertable electrodes 190, aplurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a plurality of testingsubstance openings 192, a sensing top processing module 194, and acommunication module 196. The test container array 198 includes aplurality of test containers 200, a plurality of test containerelectrodes 202, a plurality of drive-sense circuits (DSCs), a testcontainer array processing module 206, and a communication module 208.The communication modules 196 and 208 are constructed in accordance withone or more wired communication protocol and/or one or more wirelesscommunication protocols that is/are in accordance with the one or moreof the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model, the Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model, and other communicationprotocol module.

The sensing top processing module 194 and the test container arrayprocessing module 206 may be the same or different processing modulesand may be located in the sensing top, the test container array, orboth. The communication modules 196 and 208 may be the same or differentcommunication modules and may be located in the sensing top, the testcontainer array or both.

Each insertable electrode 190 and each test container electrode 202 iscoupled to a drive-sense circuit (DSC). The DSCs of the sensing top 188provide electrode signals to the test insertable electrodes 190 anddetect changes in electrical characteristics of insertable electrodes190. The DSCs of the test container array 198 provide electrode signalsto the test container electrodes 202 and detect changes in electricalcharacteristics of the test container electrodes 202. The DSCs functionas described in co-pending patent application entitled, “DRIVE SENSECIRCUIT WITH DRIVE-SENSE LINE”, having a serial number of Ser. No.16/113,379, and a filing date of Aug. 27, 2018 and in accordance withthe discussion of previous Figures.

Contents of the test containers 200 affect the electricalcharacteristics of both the insertable electrodes 190 and the testcontainer electrodes 202. The DSCs of the sensing top 188 provide thedetected changes in electrical characteristics of the insertableelectrodes 190 to the sensing top processing module 194. The DSCs of thetest container array 198 provide the detected changes in electricalcharacteristics of the test container electrodes 202 to the testcontainer array processing module 206.

The test container array processing module 206 and the sensing topprocessing module 194 are described in greater detail at the end of thedetailed description of the invention section and operate similarly tothe processing modules of previous Figures. The sensing top processingmodule 194 processes the detected changes in electrical characteristicsof the insertable electrodes 190 from the DSCs to determine firstelectrical characteristics of biological material present in thestandard testing containers 160.

For example, the first electrical characteristics of biological materialpresent in the standard testing containers 160 are measurements from theinterior of the test containers 200. The test container array processingmodule 206 processes the detected changes in electrical characteristicsof the test container electrodes 202 from the DSCs to determine secondelectrical characteristics of biological material present in the testcontainers 200. The second electrical characteristics of biologicalmaterial present in the test containers 200 are regarding measurementsfrom the perimeter of the test containers 200.

The sensing top processing module 194 communicates the first electricalcharacteristics of the biological material to the communication module196. Communicating the first electrical characteristics of biologicalmaterial to the communication module 196 may include formatting the datain a particular format with respect to the communication protocol of thecommunication module. The communication module 196 is operable tocommunicate the first electrical characteristics of cells via one ormore communication protocols.

The test container array processing module 206 communicates the secondelectrical characteristics of the biological material to thecommunication module 208. Communicating the second electricalcharacteristics of biological material to the communication module 208may include formatting the data in a particular format with respect tothe communication protocol of the communication module. Thecommunication module 208 is operable to communicate the secondelectrical characteristics of cells via one or more communicationprotocols.

It is noted that terminologies as may be used herein such as bit stream,stream, signal sequence, etc. (or their equivalents) have been usedinterchangeably to describe digital information whose contentcorresponds to any of a number of desired types (e.g., data, video,speech, text, graphics, audio, etc. any of which may generally bereferred to as ‘data’).

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provide an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding term and/orrelativity between items. For some industries, an industry-acceptedtolerance is less than one percent and, for other industries, theindustry-accepted tolerance is 10 percent or more. Other examples ofindustry-accepted tolerance range from less than one percent to fiftypercent. Industry-accepted tolerances correspond to, but are not limitedto, component values, integrated circuit process variations, temperaturevariations, rise and fall times, thermal noise, dimensions, signalingerrors, dropped packets, temperatures, pressures, material compositions,and/or performance metrics. Within an industry, tolerance variances ofaccepted tolerances may be more or less than a percentage level (e.g.,dimension tolerance of less than +/−1%). Some relativity between itemsmay range from a difference of less than a percentage level to a fewpercent. Other relativity between items may range from a difference of afew percent to magnitude of differences.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “configured to”, “operablycoupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling” includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for an example of indirectcoupling, the intervening item does not modify the information of asignal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or powerlevel. As may further be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where oneelement is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct andindirect coupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”.

As may even further be used herein, the term “configured to”, “operableto”, “coupled to”, or “operably coupled to” indicates that an itemincludes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s), etc., toperform, when activated, one or more its corresponding functions and mayfurther include inferred coupling to one or more other items. As maystill further be used herein, the term “associated with”, includesdirect and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item.

As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably”, indicates that acomparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desiredrelationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparison may beachieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal 1. As maybe used herein, the term “compares unfavorably”, indicates that acomparison between two or more items, signals, etc., fails to providethe desired relationship.

As may be used herein, one or more claims may include, in a specificform of this generic form, the phrase “at least one of a, b, and c” orof this generic form “at least one of a, b, or c”, with more or lesselements than “a”, “b”, and “c”. In either phrasing, the phrases are tobe interpreted identically. In particular, “at least one of a, b, and c”is equivalent to “at least one of a, b, or c” and shall mean a, b,and/or c. As an example, it means: “a” only, “b” only, “c” only, “a” and“b”, “a” and “c”, “b” and “c”, and/or “a”, “b”, and “c”.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module”, “processingcircuit”, “processor”, “processing circuitry”, and/or “processing unit”may be a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices.Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller,digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of thecircuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module,module, processing circuit, processing circuitry, and/or processing unitmay be, or further include, memory and/or an integrated memory element,which may be a single memory device, a plurality of memory devices,and/or embedded circuitry of another processing module, module,processing circuit, processing circuitry, and/or processing unit. Such amemory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flashmemory, cache memory, and/or any device that stores digital information.Note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,processing circuitry, and/or processing unit includes more than oneprocessing device, the processing devices may be centrally located(e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,processing circuitry and/or processing unit implements one or more ofits functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing thecorresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, orexternal to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further notethat, the memory element may store, and the processing module, module,processing circuit, processing circuitry and/or processing unitexecutes, hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to atleast some of the steps and/or functions illustrated in one or more ofthe Figures. Such a memory device or memory element can be included inan article of manufacture.

One or more embodiments have been described above with the aid of methodsteps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claims. Further, the boundariesof these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined forconvenience of description. Alternate boundaries could be defined aslong as the certain significant functions are appropriately performed.Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been arbitrarily definedherein to illustrate certain significant functionality.

To the extent used, the flow diagram block boundaries and sequence couldhave been defined otherwise and still perform the certain significantfunctionality. Such alternate definitions of both functional buildingblocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus within the scopeand spirit of the claims. One of average skill in the art will alsorecognize that the functional building blocks, and other illustrativeblocks, modules and components herein, can be implemented as illustratedor by discrete components, application specific integrated circuits,processors executing appropriate software and the like or anycombination thereof.

In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue”indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that thesteps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used inconjunction with one or more other routines. In addition, a flow diagrammay include an “end” and/or “continue” indication. The “end” and/or“continue” indications reflect that the steps presented can end asdescribed and shown or optionally be incorporated in or otherwise usedin conjunction with one or more other routines. In this context, “start”indicates the beginning of the first step presented and may be precededby other activities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue”indication reflects that the steps presented may be performed multipletimes and/or may be succeeded by other activities not specificallyshown. Further, while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering ofsteps, other orderings are likewise possible provided that theprinciples of causality are maintained.

The one or more embodiments are used herein to illustrate one or moreaspects, one or more features, one or more concepts, and/or one or moreexamples. A physical embodiment of an apparatus, an article ofmanufacture, a machine, and/or of a process may include one or more ofthe aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc. described with referenceto one or more of the embodiments discussed herein. Further, from figureto figure, the embodiments may incorporate the same or similarly namedfunctions, steps, modules, etc. that may use the same or differentreference numbers and, as such, the functions, steps, modules, etc. maybe the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc. or differentones.

While the transistors in the above described figure(s) is/are shown asfield effect transistors (FETs), as one of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate, the transistors may be implemented using any type oftransistor structure including, but not limited to, bipolar, metal oxidesemiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET), N-well transistors,P-well transistors, enhancement mode, depletion mode, and zero voltagethreshold (VT) transistors.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/orbetween elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein maybe analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-endedor differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as asingle-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path.Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it alsorepresents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particulararchitectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise beimplemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, directconnectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between otherelements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of one or more of theembodiments. A module implements one or more functions via a device suchas a processor or other processing device or other hardware that mayinclude or operate in association with a memory that stores operationalinstructions. A module may operate independently and/or in conjunctionwith software and/or firmware. As also used herein, a module may containone or more sub-modules, each of which may be one or more modules.

As may further be used herein, a computer readable memory includes oneor more memory elements. A memory element may be a separate memorydevice, multiple memory devices, or a set of memory locations within amemory device. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, randomaccess memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory,dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device thatstores digital information. The memory device may be in a form asolid-state memory, a hard drive memory, cloud memory, thumb drive,server memory, computing device memory, and/or other physical medium forstoring digital information.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of theone or more embodiments have been expressly described herein, othercombinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. Thepresent disclosure is not limited by the particular examples disclosedherein and expressly incorporates these other combinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A biological test system comprises: a testcontainer array including a plurality of test containers; a testing baseincluding a plurality of testing base containers, wherein the pluralityof test containers fit into the plurality of test base containers; aplurality of test container electrodes integrated into the testcontainer array, wherein a set of test container electrodes of theplurality of test container electrodes is integrated into a testcontainer of the test container array; a plurality of testing baseelectrodes integrated into the testing base, wherein a set of testingbase electrodes of the plurality of testing base electrodes isintegrated into a testing base container of the plurality of testingbase containers, wherein, when the test container array is inserted intothe testing base, the set of test container electrodes electricallycouple with the set of testing base electrodes; a plurality ofdrive-sense circuits coupled to the plurality of testing base electrodeswherein, when enabled, the plurality of drive-sense circuits detectchanges in electrical characteristics of the plurality of testing baseelectrodes; a processing module coupled to the testing base, wherein theprocessing module is operable to: receive a set of changes in electricalcharacteristics of the set of testing base electrodes; and interpret theset of changes in electrical characteristics as a set of impedancevalues representative of electrical characteristics of a biologicalmaterial present in the test container; and a communication moduleoperably coupled to the processing module, wherein the communicationmodule is operable to communicate one or more of: the set of changes inelectrical characteristics and the set of impedance values via one ormore communication protocol.
 2. The biological test system of claim 1,wherein a drive-sense circuit of the plurality of drive-sense circuitsis coupled to a testing base electrode of the plurality of testing baseelectrodes.
 3. The biological test system of claim 1 further comprises:a plurality of multiplexors coupled to the plurality of drive-sensecircuits and the plurality of testing base electrodes, wherein a firstmultiplexor of the plurality of multiplexors is coupled to a firstdrive-sense circuit of the plurality of drive-sense circuits and the setof testing base electrodes; and the processing module is furtheroperable to: generate a plurality of multiplexor control signals forselecting electrodes of the plurality of electrodes for sensing via theplurality of drive-sense circuits, wherein a first multiplexor controlsignal of the plurality of multiplexor control signals selects a firsttesting base electrode of the set of testing base electrodes for sensingvia the first drive-sense circuit.
 4. The biological test system ofclaim 1, wherein the biological material comprises one or more of: oneor more biological cells; and a portion of one or more biological cells.5. The biological test system of claim 1, wherein the electricalcharacteristics of the biological material include one or more of:position; impedance; size; shape; movement; density; excitability; andpotential.
 6. A biological test system comprises: a test container arrayincluding a plurality of test containers; a testing base including aplurality of testing base containers, wherein the plurality of testcontainers fit into the plurality of test base containers; a pluralityof test container electrodes integrated into the test container array,wherein a set of test container electrodes of the plurality of testcontainer electrodes is integrated into a test container of the testcontainer array; a plurality of testing base electrodes integrated intothe testing base, wherein a set of testing base electrodes of theplurality of testing base electrodes is integrated into a testing basecontainer of plurality of testing base containers, wherein, when thetest container array is inserted into the testing base, the set of testcontainer electrodes electrically couple with the set of testing baseelectrodes; a plurality of drive-sense circuits coupled to the pluralityof testing base electrodes wherein, when enabled, the plurality ofdrive-sense circuits detect changes in electrical characteristics of theplurality of testing base electrodes; and a communication moduleoperably coupled communicate one or more of: the set of changes inelectrical characteristics and the set of impedance values via one ormore of a communication protocol.
 7. The biological test system of claim6 further comprises: a processing module operably coupled to: receive aset of changes in electrical characteristics of the set of testing baseelectrodes; and interpret the set of changes in electricalcharacteristics as a set of impedance values representative ofelectrical characteristics of a biological material present in the testcontainer.
 8. The biological test system of claim 6, wherein adrive-sense circuit of the plurality of drive-sense circuits is coupledto a testing base electrode of the plurality of testing base electrodes.9. The biological test system of claim 6 further comprises: a pluralityof multiplexors coupled to the plurality of drive-sense circuits and theplurality of testing base electrodes, wherein a first multiplexor of theplurality of multiplexors is coupled to a first drive-sense circuit ofthe plurality of drive-sense circuits and the set of testing baseelectrodes; and the processing module is further operable to: generate aplurality of multiplexor control signals for selecting electrodes of theplurality of electrodes for sensing via the plurality of drive-sensecircuits, wherein a first multiplexor control signal of the plurality ofmultiplexor control signals selects a first testing base electrode ofthe set of testing base electrodes for sensing via the first drive-sensecircuit.
 10. The biological test system of claim 6, wherein thebiological material comprises one or more of: one or more biologicalcells; and a portion of one or more biological cells.
 11. The biologicaltest system of claim 6, wherein the electrical characteristics of thebiological material include one or more of: position; impedance; size;shape; movement; density; excitability; and potential.